India will be playing the ODI series against South Africa this October. Playing the series right before the T20 World Cup may put a toll on the health of players. Being aware of that, BCCI will be giving the T20 squad rest before the World Cup tour. Shikhar Dhawan is going to lead the team with VVS Laxman being the in-charge of the squad.
“Yes, it is not ideal to have an ODI series before T20 World Cup. But that is how it goes sometimes. Rohit, Virat and all T20 World Cup-bound players will be rested from the ODI series. They will get a short break before departing for Australia. Shikhar will lead the side,” a senior BCCI official reported
India’s three-match ODI series will commence on October 6 and end on October 11. Before the T20 World Cup begins, India will be facing Australia in a warm-up match. The Indian T20 squad will leave for Australia by October 10 so that the players can adapt to the conditions and changing time zones. This is one of the major reasons why the BCCI has decided to keep the ODI and T20 WC squads completely separate.
India will also begin with the intra-squad practice before the warm-up matches. Rahul Tripathy is expected to make a debut in this series. It’s also speculated that Umran Mallik who impressed everyone with his IPL performance could be picked for this ODI series.
There can be also a change in plan of head coach Rahul Dravid feels some players need to have an ODI practice before the T20 WC. He wants the players to have as much practice as possible. In that case, a few of the T20 players who do not have a lot of practice like KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel may be a part of the ODI squad as well.
“Rahul wants the players to have better competitive practice. But we believe it could be detrimental. However, it will be put to discussion during the selection meeting and we will decide the due course. If Rahul decides to stay with the squad for ODIs, the squad will leave for Australia along with South African players on October 12,” the BCCI official said.
South Africa on the other hand, will have the same squad for T20 WC and ODI. They will begin their T20 World Cup warm-ups on October 17 against New Zealand.
Read more: Anupama Upadhyaya from India is the new junior World No. 1 in BWF rankings
