Injured Jasprit Bumrah and Shikhar Dhawan are set to return for a three match ODI series against Australia starting 14 January.
Recovering at a steady pace from his injury, Bumrah missed the series against South Africa due to a stress fracture. He went through an assessment post the Diwali break which revealed that his recovery was on track. He will first play the T20 series against Sri Lanka starting on 4 January.
Dhawan had to miss the ODI and T20 series against West Indies in December due to a finger injury.
“Against Australia, we have all three openers available --Shikhar, Rohit and KL Rahul,” Prasad said.
It would be interesting to see who will open with Rohit Sharma in the first ODI, KL Rahul or Shikhar Dhawan.
Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is nursing a sports hernia and Chahar is out till April, but Prasad said there is no cause of concern.
"Deepak was doing well as he played the Vijay Hazare Trophy and suddenly he aggravated his back in the second ODI in Visakhapatnam," he said.
Asked who will be the swing bowler, Prasad said the selectors are banking on Shardul Thakur, who can swing the ball at a decent pace. He made a crucial six-ball 17 in the third ODI against the West Indies in India's series-clinching four-wicket win on Sunday.
Hardik Pandya is till recovering from his back injury said chief selector MSK Prasad.
”(As for) Hardik, we will have a look at him in the third week of January,” Prasad said, indicating that the all-rounder could only be available in the second half of New Zealand tour.
Full Schedule
- 14 January - Mumbai
- 17 January - Rajkot
- 19 January - Bengaluru
Squad
Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)