With the focus now on the white-ball format, with the Champions Trophy coming up in a month and the selectors expected to reveal the 15-member squad by the end of this week, speculations have begun on the big-name players who could miss the cut and fringe options who could likely make the Indian team.
According to a report in the PTI, under-fire senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will continue to form the batting core of India’s ODI squad, but three senior cricketers could face the axe. KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, and Ravindra Jadeja’s presence in the side could be debated when the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee gathers this weekend to pick the squad.
Rahul served as the vice-captain during the 2023 ODI World Cup after Hardik Pandya got injured and was eventually ruled out. The wicketkeeper-batter also played a crucial role in the middle-order line-up. But the Karnataka star only featured in the line-up as Rishabh Pant, expected to be the first-choice wicketkeeper in the Champions Trophy, was still recovering from the injuries he had incurred after the car accident in December 2022. The selectors will hence be expected to debate whether there is a point in picking Rahul as a backup wicketkeeper for the impending ICC tournament.
Notably, Rahul played in both of India’s last two ODI assignments after the World Cup. He led the side in the South Africa tour as a wicketkeeper in 2023 and played with the gloves behind the stumps in two of three matches India played in Sri Lanka in the summer of 2024.
Among other competitors – Ishan Kishan, who hasn’t had a great campaign in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, while Kerala didn’t pick Sanju Samson, who had notched up a ton in his only appearance in the South Africa series after he missed the initial games.
What about Jadeja and Shami?
The report further added that Axar Patel and Washington Sundar have made a more effective case to make themselves to be considered as a spin all-rounder for the white-ball tournament ahead of a struggling Ravindra Jadeja, whose batting hasn’t been as good as he used to be.
As for Shami, there hasn’t been enough clarity on the communication between him and the team management on his fitness, despite the senior pacer, making a return to the competitive action last October after being sidelined since the 2023 ODI World Cup with an ankle injury. In the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, he picked two wickets in eight overs across two matches and showed his prowess with the bat with an unbeaten 42 against Madhya Pradesh.
Meanwhile, Yashasvi Jaiswal is expected to get a green signal as a backup opener. The youngster has proven himself to be India’s most promising long-format batters, but is yet to earn the ODI cap, having last played a List A game in November 2022. Overall, he has scored 1511 runs in 32 innings at 453.96, with five tons and seven fifties.
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