MS Dhoni set to play warm-up matches against England; R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja could be rested for ODI and T20I series
The next assignment for the Indian Cricket Team is a three-match ODI and T20I series against England, that begins from the 15th of January at the Gahunje Stadium in Pune.
Ahead of that series, Reports have emerged in the Indian Express that key members like Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin might be given a break for the limited-overs leg, keeping in mind the resumption of India’s Test run against Bangladesh in February. It is also learnt that Jayant Yadav, who had an impressive debut series against England, will also be rested for the limited-over series.
The Men In Blue had adopted a similar approach for the limited-overs series against New Zealand, where Jadeja, Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar were rested and several youngsters were given an opportunity.
The report also confirmed that limited-overs skipper MS Dhoni will play for the Board President’s XI against England in the two practice matches, prior to the start of the limited-overs series and has informed the Board about his availability for the game.
“As he is short of match practice he has decided to play the two Board of President XI games. One will be day and second game will be a day-night affair,” A BCCI official said.
Joining Dhoni for those fixtures could also be Shikhar Dhawan, who has not played for India since the second Test of the series against New Zealand in September, triple centurion from the Chennai Test Karun Nair, who had complained of abdominal pain during the Ranji Trophy Quarterfinal against Tamil Nadu last week and Manish Pandey, who was part of the Indian squad for the series against New Zealand in October.
Extra Cover: Mohammed Shami to miss ODIs and T20Is against England through injury
Ajinkya Rahane, who missed the final two Tests against England because of a fractured finger, is likely to play in the second of the two practice games against England.
Rohit Sharma, though, is likely to miss out on further action after failing to recover fully on time and could miss this series as well the one-off Test against Bangladesh and the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia, which follows that game. The 30-year-old is likely to be out of action for a further 12 weeks and last played for India in the deciding ODI against New Zealand in Vizag.
The limited-overs series against England will be the last set of matches India will in coloured clothing before the Champions Trophy in England in June.