Harshit in, Kuldeep out: Aakash Chopra picks India's playing XI for first ODI against Australia

New Delhi [India], October 16 (ANI): Former cricketer-turned commentator Aakash Chopra prophesied India's final XI for the ODI series opener against Australia on Sunday with a couple of surprise ommission of a couple of key starters.

Under the leadership of the newly crowned captain, Shubman Gill, India will begin fine-tuning the ODI side to find the perfect combination before the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The first ODI at the Optus Stadium in Perth will officially mark the beginning of Gill's era in the 50-over format.

Unlike his captaincy Test series debut, the 26-year-old will enjoy the presence of batting behemoths Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the star-studded side. The batting wizards are returning to the international circuit for the first time since the Champions Trophy title-winning run in March. Rohit will solely feature as an opener after the selectors passed down the captaincy mantle to Gill.

With Shreyas Iyer serving as Gill's deputy and KL Rahul being the first-choice wicketkeeper, India's top five automatically fills itself in Aakash's line-up. In a video posted by Star Sports on X, he chose Gill to open alongside his predecessor Rohit, with Virat occupying his trademark number three spot. Shreyas fills in at four while Rahul completes India's top five. With Gill and Rohit occupying the opening slot, flamboyant opener Yashasvi Jaiswal would continue to sit on the sidelines.

As Hardik Pandya is nursing an injury and unavailable for the tour, Aakash pushed for Nitish's inclusion at six. He went for two spin bowling all-rounders, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar. The inclusion of the two southpaws left no room for premier spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

Kuldeep was instrumental to India's success at the Asia Cup, claiming 17 wickets and topping the wicket-taking chart during India's unbeaten run to the title. Aakash explained the rationale behind dropping the left-arm wrist spinner and attributed it to batting depth.

With the seventh and the eighth spot occupied, Aakash weighed in on India's pace battery. With pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah rested as part of his workload management, and left four seamers available. Aakash opted for Harshit Rana, who recently received support from head coach Gautam Gambhir after facing backlash from fans and former cricketers over alleged claims of favouritism. Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh were his remaining two choices, leaving Prasidh Krishna on the bench. (ANI)

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