India vs Australia: Focus on fringe players, R Ashwin and Washington Sundar — what's at stake in ODIs

The upcoming ODI series between India and Australia is set to provide both the teams one last shot at finalising their potential playing XIs just before the ODI World Cup gets underway.

The Men in Blue are coming fresh off their Asia Cup triumph in Colombo recently, but this time around, against Australia, new faces will be in action for the Indians.

Following a hectic summer that saw India take on West Indies and then play the Asia Cup, the team management have decided to rest seniors like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for the first two ODIs, thereby paving the way for KL Rahul to lead the side.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar return to the side, with Ashwin last playing an ODI in January 2022.

Then there’s Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Varma in the squad. Although both of them are not part of the World Cup squad, this series against Australia provides them an opportunity to test themselves and more importantly, prepare for the future.

So, what’s there to look forward to in the upcoming India vs Australia ODI series? Let’s take a look:

Eyes on fringe players

Resting seniors like Kohli and Rohit provides an opportunity for young, talented players like Gaikwad and Tilak to have a say in the first two ODIs.

Tilak Varma has been pipped by some to seal that number four batting spot in ODIs, looking ahead to the future, and should he be a part of the playing XI, it will be interesting to see how he comes up against a reputed Australia pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

Coming