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 omission.
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.
In a video posted by Star Sports on X, Chopra chose Gill to open alongside his predecessor Rohit, with Virat occupying his trademark number three spot. Vice-captain Shreyas Iyer fills in at four while first-choice wicket-keeper KL Rahul completes India's top five. With Gill and Rohit occupying the opening slot, flamboyant opener Yashasvi Jaiswal finds no place.
With Hardik Pandya unavailable for the tour due to injury, Aakash pushed for Nitish Kumar Reddy's inclusion at six. He picks two spin bowling all-rounders, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar in his XI, meaning in-form spinner Kuldeep Yadav is relegated to the bench.
Kuldeep was instrumental to India's success at the Asia Cup, topping the wicket-taking chart with 17 wickets. Chopra explained the rationale behind dropping the left-arm wrist spinner, attributing 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.