IND vs AUS 1st ODI: The arrival of Ravindra Jadeja spoiled the game of these players? Will not get place in playing-XI

Mumbai: Several members of the Indian cricket team, including stand-in captain Hardik Pandya, on Wednesday started practice at the Wankhede Stadium ahead of the ODI series against Australia. However, all eyes were on the two wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, who are competing against all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar for a place in the playing XI. Fifth spin bowling all-rounder Akshar Patel is also in the fray.

Kuldeep and Chahal will try to strengthen their claim for the World Cup to be held later this year by showing the wonders of their googly, flipper and leg-break in the three ODI series against Australia starting on Friday. Washington and Jadeja have good hold in both bowling and batting but if we talk about spin skills then Kuldeep and Chahal have been better in this format. The characters give the team another option. In this way, India has many contenders on the front of spin bowling.

focus on batting
Regular captain Rohit Sharma will miss the first ODI in Mumbai due to family commitments and stand-in skipper Hardik was among the players to practice for over two hours with the white ball for the match. Hardik also tried leg break bowling in front of Ishaan Kishan. Suryakumar Yadav, Kishan and Hardik also practiced batting for a long time. Siraj, who played till the third Test in Indore, also spent a lot of time batting in front of spinners and fast bowlers. Other players who took part in the drills included fast bowlers Jaydev Unadkat, Umran Malik and Shardul Thakur. The Australian players also took part in the practice session in the afternoon.

KL Rahul did not come to practice
India’s first-choice KL Rahul, with the batting at number five and wicket-keeping duties, did not participate in the practice. He was dropped from the playing XI after the first two Tests in Nagpur and New Delhi. The team’s head coach Rahul Dravid also did not attend the practice session but other members of the coaching staff including batting coach Vikram Rathour, fielding coach T Dileep and bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, throwdown specialists Raghavendra and Nuvan Seneviratne were present.

shreyas out of series
Indian team fielding coach T Dileep on Wednesday officially confirmed that batsman Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the three-match ODI series against Australia due to a flare-up of lower back injury. It is learned that this Mumbai batsman will not be able to participate in IPL as well. Iyer leads KKR in the IPL. He is currently at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for rehab (treatment and recovery from injury). It is yet to be confirmed whether he will require surgery like Jasprit Bumrah and the famous Krishna. Dileep told, ‘We are in touch (with NCA). Shreyas is out of this series. The upcoming season of IPL is starting from 31st March. Now it looks like the team will have to look for a new captain.

numbers game

• Murali Karthik took 6 wickets for 27 runs in the ODI match played in Wankhede against Australia in 2007. This is the best bowling figures of a bowler in ODIs between the two countries.
• Harbhajan Singh has 32 wickets in ODIs against Australia. He has been the most successful spinner in ODIs between the two countries

India Possible Playing XI (India Playing XI vs AUS): Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan/KL Rahul (wk), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Umran Malik, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur
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