After the T20 Asia Cup and two Test matches in succession, it’s time for Team India to now jump into ODI mode, for the first time since the Champions Trophy back in March. The home Tests against West Indies started four days after the Asia Cup final, and five days from the end of that series, the team plays the first of three ODIs in Australia. 

Welcome to the madcap nature of international cricket these days. 

India, now led by Shubman Gill, will play three ODI matches in Perth, Adelaide and Sydney on October 19, 23 and 25 and much of the interest in this series centres on the return of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who only play one format now. 

Kohli and Rohit were last seen in the ICC Champions Trophy in March, which India won, and have since retired from Test cricket. How match fit they are remains to be seen, given that neither has played any domestic cricket of late. 

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir was asked about the superstar pair after the Test victory over West Indies this week, and urged reporters to “stay in the present”. Rohit will be well past 40 and Kohli 38 when the 2027 ODI World Cup starts, and given that they are only active in one format, the clock is ticking. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal has been picked as the third opener in the squad, which will be led by Gill who will take the full-time reins of the 50-over side for the first time. With Rishabh Pant still out with injury, KL Rahul will keep wickets and Dhruv Jurel is the second option. 

Shreyas Iyer faces a big challenge, given that the bulk of his ODI success has come in Asian conditions. Iyer has played just three ODIs in Australia, from which he averages 19, and the short ball problems that have dogged him in SENA countries will be closely watched, given the presence of several fast bowlers in Australia’s squad. 

Nitish Reddy, yet to play an ODI, has been named instead of Hardik Pandya and could be in line to make his debut in Perth as one of two seam-bowling allrounders, the other being Harshit Rana. With Jasprit Bumrah rested, a chance for Mohammed Siraj to play his first ODI since August 2024 has opened up. 

Prasidh Krishna will probably get the nod as the second specialist pace bowler in the 11 ahead of Arshdeep Singh, at least in Perth where bounce is expected to be a factor. Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel will make up the frontline spin options, with Washington Sundar in the wings. 

Australia are missing the sidelined Pat Cummins – who is a doubt for the start of the Ashes – but the Mitchell Marsh-led squad that lost to South Africa not too long ago has been boosted by the return of Mitchell Starc. Australia will be also be without two key players in Adam Zampa and Josh Inglis for the first ODI. Inglis is still recovering from a calf strain that ruled him out of the recent tour to New Zealand, and Zampa is on paternal leave. 

With Alex Carey released from the squad for the series opener in order to play Sheffield Shield cricket ahead of the Ashes, Josh Phillippe is in line for his first ODI appearance since 2021 as designated wicketkeeper. In Zampa’s absence, left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann could get his first chance in ODIs since 2022 given that allrounders Cooper Connolly and Matt Short are the only other spin options available for the Perth game. 

Meanwhile, Mitch Owen and Matt Renshaw are in line to make their ODI debuts against India after a strong run in domestic 50-over cricket. 

Australia have lost eight of their last 10 ODIs, and cannot claim any home advantage at Perth Stadium where they have lost all three ODIs played so far. Given the very obvious problems they are going through as they rebuild following the retirements of Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis, as well as the number of players absent, they are by no means favourites. 

India can win this series given the talent and experience of their squad. If a depleted South Africa could beat them 2-1 not too long ago, there is no reason why India cannot do the same. 

India predicted playing 11: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill (capt), 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Axar Patel, 7 Nitish Reddy, 8 Harshit Rana, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Mohammed Siraj

Australia predicted playing 11: 1 Travis Head, 2 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 3 Cameron Green, 4 Matt Renshaw, 5 Josh Phillippe (wk), 6 Mitch Owen, 7 Cooper Connolly, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Xavier Bartlett, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Matthew Kuhnemann