Following their triumphant series-clinching victory in Indore, the Indian team welcomed back prominent players such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Kuldeep Yadav.
The cricketing world has been buzzing with excitement following India’s decisive victory over Australia in Indore. The anticipation reached new heights with the return of some star players for the third and final ODI in Rajkot, after a well-deserved rest. However, the absence of certain young talents from India’s playing XI also raised some eyebrows.
Following their triumphant series-clinching victory in Indore, the Indian team welcomed back prominent players such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Kuldeep Yadav for the third ODI against Australia. These players had been strategically rested by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the first two games, allowing them to recover from a grueling schedule in recent months. It is worth noting that KL Rahul had assumed the captaincy in Rohit’s absence during those initial matches against the Aussies.
However, the return of these star players was accompanied by the surprising exclusion of the promising wicketkeeper-batter, Ishan Kishan. The cricketer, hailing from Jharkhand, had made a commendable contribution to the team’s performance in the first two ODIs, scoring 18 and 31 runs respectively. Unfortunately, the young batter was unable to secure a spot in India’s starting XI for the final game.
During the toss for the third ODI, Rohit shed light on Ishan’s absence. He disclosed that the wicketkeeper-batter was suffering from viral fever, which was the primary reason behind his omission from the playing XI.
“Myself, Virat, Kuldeep are all back. From the last game, Ashwin is also missing, Washington is in. Ishan is not well, he’s got viral fever so he misses out,” said Rohit.
UPDATE: Ishan Kishan was unavailable for selection for the 3rd ODI due to an illness.
Additionally, four local state players – Dharmendra Jadeja, Prerak Mankad, Vishwaraj Jadeja and Harvik Desai will support the team for drinks and fielding throughout the match.#TeamIndia |…
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 27, 2023
During a pre-match press conference, Rohit Sharma shed light on the reasons behind the unavailability of several key players for the third ODI’s playing XI. Notably, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, and Shardul Thakur were all excluded from consideration. Rohit clarified that Shubman was rested, while Shami, Pandya, and Shardul had returned home due to personal reasons.
Moreover, Rohit emphasized that a viral fever had been spreading within the team, introducing an element of uncertainty to the side’s composition. Consequently, he found himself with only 13 viable choices for the 3rd ODI.
“(Shubman) Gill is rested, (Mohammed) Shami, Hardik (Pandya) Shardul (Thakur) have all gone home for personal things and Axar is not available for this game. We only have 13 players to choose from and there is a viral fever going on in the team, so there is a lot of uncertainty in the side at this point in time which we cannot help,” revealed Rohit
