India and Australia will be playing a limited over series from 24th Feb in India. The limited over series constitutes of two T20s and five ODIs. Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul are back in the India squad. While Kohli and Bumrah are back from a break, KL Rahul is back after his suspension. The team that is choosen gives a clear indication of what is going to be the final fifteen for the world cup. The world cup starts on May 30th in England.
Virat Kohli’s men are in good form, they are on a real high after putting it across Australia in their own backyard for the first time in history. When India toured Australia in December they became the first Indian team to win a test series and a bilateral ODI series in Australia. The team will look forward to carry the momentum.
Rishab Pant has been selected for both the T20 and ODI squads whereas Dinesh Karthik has only made it to the T20 side. This selection puts serious doubts on the chances of Dinesh Karthik making it to the World Cup squad. Another interesting selection is that of Tamil Nadu allrounder Vijay Shankar, who made his ODI debut in Melbourne in January. With Ravindra Jadeja and Khaleel Ahmed not picked for this Australia series, it is possible India’s selectors and team management think they don’t need a fourth specialist fast bowler for the World Cup.
On the other hand, the Australians will be thinking of revenge. They will want to defeat India and get the much required momentum needed for the world cup. Both the T20 and ODI teams are led by Aaron Finch who had a miserable series against the Indians back home but since then he has got some much needed runs under his belt in the big bash league. Finch will be leading the Melbourne Renegades in the final of the big bash league against the Melbourne Stars who are led by Glenn Maxwell.
Here are the teams selected for the series:
India:
India T20I Squad: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Lokesh Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mayank Markande
India 1st and 2nd ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Ambati Rayudu, Lokesh Rahul, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Kuldeep Yadav, Siddarth Kaul, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
India 3rd, 4th & 5th ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Ambati Rayudu, Lokesh Rahul, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
Australia:
Australia T20I Squad: Aaron Finch(c), Alex Carey, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, D Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa
Australia ODI Squad: Aaron Finch(c), Alex Carey, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, D Arcy Short, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Pat Cummins, Kane Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa
Itinerary :
| Date |
Team | T20/ODI | Venue | Time |
| Feb 24, Sun | India vs Australia | 1st T20I | Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam | 7:00 PM 01:30 PM GMT / 07:00 PM LOCAL |
| Feb 27, Wed | India vs Australia | 2nd T20I | M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru | 7:00 PM 01:30 PM GMT / 07:00 PM LOCAL |
| Mar 02, Sat | India vs Australia | 1st ODI | Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad | 1:30 PM 08:00 AM GMT / 01:30 PM LOCAL |
| Mar 05, Tue | India vs Australia | 2nd ODI | Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur | 1:30 PM 08:00 AM GMT / 01:30 PM LOCAL |
| Mar 08, Fri | India vs Australia | 3rd ODI | JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi | 1:30 PM 08:00 AM GMT / 01:30 PM LOCAL |
| Mar 10, Sun | India vs Australia | 4th ODI | Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali | 1:30 PM 08:00 AM GMT / 01:30 PM LOCAL |
| Mar 13, Wed | India vs Australia | 5th ODI | Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi | 1:30 PM 08:00 AM GMT / 01:30 PM LOCAL |
