Since the Indian squad for the three-match ODI series against England has been announced, three selection wobbles have been the cynosure. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammad Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja’s omissions have raised a few eyebrows. Jaiswal’s exclusion was pretty much expected as India has a settled top order in Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. But Siraj, not being able to book a place in the first 17 members, was something utterly flabbergasting. Ravindra Jadeja, on the other hand, has announced his T20I retirement and his time has not gone well in the limited over formats.
Selectors’ headache
Selecting an ODI squad for India, being a selection panelist, is a very arduous task nowadays. The primary squad is settled and the reserves are continuously doing well in a handful of opportunities, which has made it a good headache for the Ajit Agarkar-led committee. In the recently concluded Afghanistan series, Kohli did not take part due to injury concerns. Jaiswal replaced him and he notched up a hundred in the final ODI. The dashing southpaw from Mumbai boasts of two centuries in his first six ODI innings and has shown promise. But the team’s top three is already a settled one and he will have to wait for his chances.
After the top three of Gill-Rohit-Virat, the number four spot is grabbed by Shreyas Iyer. Iyer has been brilliant in the List A format. He was an integral reason in India’s dominance in the 2023 World Cup, and his failure in the final led India to a quagmire. But Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan made strong cases for themselves. Gaikwad currently has the highest List A average (58.61) among those who have played at least 50 innings. He has bettered the likes of Kohli and Michael Bevan.
Who beyond Ro-Ko & Gill?
Even in his last ODI innings for India, he registered a match-winning 105 and in the recently concluded India A series in Sri Lanka, he scored 274 from 5 innings at an average of 54.8, including a ton. Kishan has also played a brilliant knock of 125 in the Afghanistan series, which has made him a serious contender for a spot in the World Cup.
Kishan could have sneaked into the playing XI as he is a designated keeper-batter, but KL Rahul’s presence has been the backbone of India’s success in recent years. Numbers say that Rahul has batted 34 times in numbers 5 and 6 since the start of 2023. He has scored 1,290 runs at 61.42 and a 96.62 strike rate. Rahul now looks to be a settled option for a middle order spot, and that will make Kishan go under the shadows, but both of them being prolific run getters is good for the National team.
Earlier, while discussing the all-rounder options, India would have had a dearth as Hardik Pandya was injury-prone. India suffered a lot when Hardik was ruled out due to an injury in the 2023 World Cup and they had to incorporate Suryakumar Yadav in the playing XI just to add a batting option. But ahead of the 2027 World Cup, that area is not a vulnerable one. As a deputy of Hardik as pace-bowling all-rounders, India now have Nitish Kumar Reddy. The all-rounder from Andhra Pradesh has emerged as an option. He can score runs at a brisk pace and as he remodeled his action to bring more ‘hit the deck’ skills, he adds a lot of value with his skill sets.
The all-rounder conumdrum
If both of them fail to make it to the playing XI due to injuries, India have Suryansh Shedge. The Mumbaikar impressed in his India A outings in the Sri Lanka Tri-Series. He scored 147 runs with the bat and picked up 2 wickets in that series. His counter-attacking 72 against Sri Lanka helped the Indian team to post a competitive total of 265 after a slump to 143/7. That has also earned him his maiden call-up for the Ireland and England white-ball series.
Spin bowling all-rounder spot has been a topsy-turvy one after Jadeja’s omission from the ODI squad for the England series. Jadeja last played an ODI in January 2026, and he didn’t feature in the Australia ODIs ahead of that series. That means he is going to miss two SENA series consecutively. India have named Axar Patel and Washington Sundar for his role and Axar is likely to get an advantage as his slow left-arm orthodox bowling can be effective against the right-handers of the England team.
Keeping the 2027 World Cup in mind, India have named a few hit-the-deck bowlers for the England tour. On South African bouncy tracks, they will come into play, given that they raise the ball sharply and extract good bounce. Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, and Gurnoor Brar will be in the pace attack spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah. Prasidh impressed in the last ODI with the new ball and Brar picked up 7 wickets in his first three ODI games to facilitate the call-up. Rana’s return to the squad after an injury will be crucial not only because of his bowling but also for his ability to contribute with the bat in the lower order.
The combination
The Indian squad for the upcoming World Cup looks to be all set now. The tournament is still more than a year away, but with a lot of in-form cricketers, their prepared back-ups, and newbies nailing the required skill-set, give the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee a good headache to have.
Shubman-Rohit-Virat at the top order, Shreyas-Rahul-Hardik in the middle order, Axar-Harshit as all-rounders in the lower order, Bumrah-Prasidh-Arshdeep-Brar as pacers, and Kuldeep Yadav as a specialist spinner, make India a formidable force ahead of the World Cup. Just a few ODI series to test the newbies, and the team is good once the combination is worked out.
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