3 players who were unfortunate to miss out on India's ODI squad for the Australia series
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced Team India’s 18-member squad for the ODI series against Australia at home.
The two teams are currently involved in the four-game Border-Gavaskar Test series. The hosts already have one hand on the trophy after winning the first two games in Nagpur and in Delhi.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be followed by a three-match ODI series. The first ODI is scheduled to be played in Mumbai on March 17, while the next two fixtures will be played in Vishakhapatnam and Chennai on March 19 and March 22, respectively.
The squad features the ODI return of star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who has made a sensational comeback following an injury layoff. The left-armer has wreaked havoc on the Australians, taking 17 wickets in the first two Tests.
*Hardik Pandya will lead India in the first ODI as Rohit Sharma will miss the opener against Australia due to family commitments 🏏
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Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma will miss the first ODI due to family commitments and in his absence, all-rounder Hardik Pandya will lead the side.
Jasprit Bumrah was a notable absentee, having suffered a serious back issue. Others, however, were nowhere to be found despite being fit and available.
India squad for ODI series: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (Vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat.
On that note, here are three players who were unlucky to miss out on India's squad for the three ODIs.
#3 Ruturaj Gaikwad
The rise of Shubman Gill as an opener in white-ball cricket has somewhat derailed the prospect of Ruturaj Gaikwad in the Indian team.
However, Gaikwad, who has played ten international games, could have been selected in the squad for the ODIs against Australia, especially given the unavailability of Rohit Sharma for the first game.
The 26-year-old would've been more than a decent backup opener to Gill and Rohit in the series. Gaikwad ended 2022's Vijay Hazare Trophy as the second-highest run-getter with 660 runs at a mind-blowing average of 220.0. He notched up one double century and three tons.
#2 Sanju Samson
Another major absentee from India's ODI roster was Sanju Samson. It is quite difficult to fathom how a player of his caliber and with an ODI average of above 65 remains on the fringes of the side.
Samson last played an ODI in November of 2022 against New Zealand. Since his on-field injury against Sri Lanka earlier this year, the Indian selectors have continued to overlook Samson, who was also left out of the three-match ODI series against New Zealand at home.
Sanju Samson is not included in India’s ODI squad which will face Australia 🤯
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The two wicket-keepers for India in the ODIs against Australia will be KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan and both players haven't been in great touch of late.
#1 Arshdeep Singh
Perhaps the biggest talking point of the squad announcement was the exclusion of Arshdeep Singh. India opted to go with six pace bowling options in the squad but there was no place in the squad for the left-arm pacer.
Instead, experienced pacer Jaydev Unadkat was handed a comeback in white-ball cricket. Unadkat played his last ODI for India way back in 2013 and has been rewarded for his exceptional form with Saurashtra after taking the joint-highest wickets (18) at an average of 17.
No Sanju Samson 💔😭
No Arshdeep Singh 💔😭
Shame On BCCI 🤬🤬
@BCCI #SanjuSamson #arshdeepsingh https://t.co/LfKhrx67Hy
Arshdeep, meanwhile, has been a star bowler in T20 internationals for India, having picked up 41 wickets across 26 T20Is. His one-day exploits, on the other hand, have been largely unsatisfactory.
The 24-year-old left-armer is yet to bag an ODI scalp after featuring in three one-day internationals. While the inclusion of Unadkat's inclusion is heartening to witness, selecting Arshdeep would have made more sense ahead of the ODI World Cup later this year.