India's playing 11 from the last time Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja played an ODI together - where are they now?
Ravichandran Ashwin has made yet another comeback to an Indian limited-overs team, in a way only he can. With Axar Patel injured, India have included him in their squad for the three-match home ODI series against Australia.
This is even though he hasn't played an ODI since early 2022 when India roped him in for a bilateral series against South Africa. He was included because Ravindra Jadeja was unavailable due to injury and Kuldeep Yadav wasn't in form.
Ashwin just picked a wicket in two chances and was dropped again. Jadeja came back and Kuldeep returned to form and both have been starters since.
Ashwin is mostly being seen as a backup to Kuldeep and the possible third tweaker if the pitches in Punjab, Indore, and Rajkot are dry and offer turn. If he plays with Jadeja, it will be the first time in six years that one of India's greatest-ever Test spin duo would bowl together in an ODI match.
The last time that happened was in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan, which India lost by a massive margin of 180 runs. Both Ashwin and Jadeja went wicketless and conceded economy rates of 7 and 8.37, respectively.
India realized that they could no longer afford two off-spinners bowling together in the middle overs. They didn't bring wickets consistently and conceded a lot of runs on their bad days. This brought a debut for Kuldeep Yadav, the exciting phase of two leg-spinners 'KulCha', and eventually the current spin combination.
Although Ashwin and Jadeja might return, the fates of many players who played in that final have changed completely.
Here's a look at where they are now:
Top order: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Virat Kohli (c)
India's holy top-order trinity of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Virat Kohli got out to Mohammed Amir in the final. Rohit and Kohli went early for single-digit scores. Dhawan held on for a bit but ultimately edged one behind for 21 (22).
Rohit took over from Kohli as captain in early 2022. He is currently leading the ODI team and will do so at the 2023 World Cup. However, both senior batters have been rested for the first two ODIs against Australia and will be back for the third.
Dhawan, meanwhile, was slowly phased out of the team. His age (37) and inconsistent form (18 runs in three matches against Bangladesh in his last series in December 2022) caught up with him.
Shubman Gill grabbed his chances - he's the fastest to 1500 ODI runs - and is now the first-choice opener alongside Rohit.
Middle order: Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (wk), and Kedar Jadhav
Like the top order, India's left-hander in the middle order scored 22 but the two right-handers MS Dhoni and Kedhar Jadhav failed and scored sub-10 scores.
Yuvraj Singh last played an ODI against West Indies soon after the Champions Trophy and was phased out of the team. He announced his retirement in 2019. Later, Rohit would say that India has struggled for a No. 4 since Yuvraj. He's a philanthropist and entrepreneur now and runs his non-profit YouWeCan.
MS Dhoni retired from international cricket on August 15, 2020. He is in rehab following knee surgery after IPL 2023 and is likely to play another season in 2024.
Kedar Jadhav, 38, hasn't played international cricket since 2018 but recently captained Kolhapur Tuskers in the Maharashtra Premier League (MPL) 2023.
All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja
Hardik Pandya, who played that unbelievable knock of 76 (43), in the final is currently the team vice-captain (though he's also rested for the series). After multiple bouts with injuries, he has finally started to repose the expectations of bowling and batting India had in him in 2017, and is equally pivotal to the team.
Ashwin and Jadeja, as mentioned above, are regular members of the Test team and have a chance to play an ODI together after six years.
Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah has come a long way from the no-ball against Fakhar Zaman. He doesn't bowl a lot of those now and is not only much more mature and skillful than he used to be but also a part of the leadership group. Bumrah has not been rested for the ODI series, apparently to help him build some rhythm ahead of the World Cup.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, meanwhile, bowled a good spell of 1/44 in the final and was the most economical for the Men in Blue. He hasn't played any international cricket in 2023 and is trying to fight his way back into the team through the recent Uttar Pradesh Premier League and soon IPL 2024.