India vs Australia: KL Rahul must play all three ODIs and remain consistent, says Sreesanth

KL Rahul should play all the three ODIs against Australia to remain consistent ahead of the ODI World Cup, feels former India pacer S Sreesanth.

Rahul returned to competitive cricket in the just-concluded Asia Cup, from a hamstring injury he suffered during IPL 2023 earlier this year. He scored an unbeaten 111 in the Super Four game against Pakistan.

While seniors including Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been rested for the first two ODIs against Australia starting later this week, Rahul will lead India in Rohit’s absence.

“I would ask the likes of KL Rahul to play all the games and maintain the consistency that we spoke about. Show Australia that it will be worse for them in the World Cup. Just demoralize them and make sure we don’t lose,” Sreesanth told Sportskeeda.

Sreeshanth said pacer Jasprit Bumrah should himself make a call on his workload should he sustain a niggle. Bumrah recently returned to action from a back injury, and picked four wickets in the T20Is against Ireland, before scalping as many wickets in the Asia Cup.

“It will be interesting to see the kind of pitches they offer to Australia in the series. But I want Bumrah to be rested if there is a niggle. Let him decide how his body is feeling. He deserves to make that decision and choose his priority. The use of fast bowlers would be crucial. They should rotate them and the fast bowlers should focus on bowling in partnerships,” said the former Kerala speedster.