Asia Cup 2023 champions India will be hosting Australia for 3 ODIs on September 22, 24 and 27. For the first two ODIs, a few players have been rested – captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, and Kuldeep Yadav are rested from the first couple of ODIs and will return for the third game, while KL Rahul will lead India in first two ODIs.
India have also recalled senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and included Washington Sundar, both for all 3 ODIs as Axar Patel is nursing an injury he picked in the Bangladesh game in the Asia Cup.
Kuldeep Yadav bagged the Player of the Series award in the Asia Cup 2023 for picking 9 wickets in only 4 innings at an average of only 11.44 with a five-wicket haul against Pakistan. Kuldeep Yadav is in sensational form this year: among bowlers who will feature in the World Cup 2023, Kuldeep has taken the most number of ODI wickets in 2023 – 31 wickets in 15 innings.
The 28-year-old Kuldeep has a decent record against Australia: in 19 ODIs, he’s picked up 27 wickets against Australia at an average of 38, which he’d really want to improve, but being rested from the first two ODIs won’t help that cause.
We don’t want to over-expose Kuldeep Yadav: Rohit Sharma
While fans were curious and baffled as to why Kuldeep has been rested from two ODIs vs Australia – depriving him of bowling against a strong Aussie batting-order, and also missing a chance to test him on flat surfaces in this series – captain Rohit Sharma gave an unusual answer.
When a journalist asked Rohit Sharma why Kuldeep Yadav was rested from two ODIs vs Australia despite being in brilliant rhythm in Asia Cup, Rohit said it’s because they don’t want to “over-expose” Kuldeep to the opposition. This may have been a hint at the fact that India will open their World Cup campaign against Australia on October 8 in Chennai.
“We don’t want to over-expose Kuldeep, he needs a break before the World Cup,” Rohit said of Kuldeep’s exclusion in first two ODIs vs Australia.
India squad for first two ODIs vs Australia: KL Rahul (captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, R Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, J Bumrah, M Siraj, M Shami, Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna, R Ashwin, Washington Sundar
India squad for 3rd ODI vs Australia: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, R Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, J Bumrah, M Siraj, M Shami, Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel (subject to fitness), R Ashwin, Washington Sundar
