The Men in Blue are set to begin their ODI campaign against the Windies in the five-match ODI series and the first match is scheduled to be played in Guwahati on Sunday.
Cricket news: The first ODI will be played at Guwahati on Sunday
This will be the debut ODI for the venue having hosted a T20I match last year which India had lost. Meanwhile BCCI had maintained the norm which they had started during the Test series and has released the 12-man squad on the eve of the match.
Young wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant will debut and will be seen only as a batsman for the number five position while Manish Pandey is once again left out of the squad.
Virat Kohli will bat at number three while Ambati Rayudu will bat at the much-debated number four position. While Umesh Yadav will surely be the first pacer after his exploits in the Test, there will be a toss-up between Mohammed Shami and Khaleel Ahmed for the second pacer slot.
The hosts will definitely go into the match with three spinners in the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.
With the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah being rested, Mohammed Shami is back in the reckoning for the ODIs.
It will be interesting to see if Khaleel Ahmed gets a chance who has done well in his couple of chances in the Asia Cup. Even MSK Prasad, the chief selector, has praised Khaleel and looks him as a potential World Cup squad candidate.
It will be an important series for Ravindra Jadeja, as he would like to cement his place as an all-rounder in place of Hardik Pandya, who is currently recovering from back injury. If Jadeja performs well, he might travel with the team to Australia for the T20Is and ODIs.
After performing excellently in the quadrangular series for India B, Manish Pandey would feel unlucky to not feature in the squad, but will get his opportunities later in the series.
India’s 12-man squad for the first ODI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), Ambati Rayudu, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Khaleel Ahmed