(Cricket news) After the disappointment of the Asia Cup, India is back and they will be taking on Australia in a 3 match T20I series. The series will be very important for the men in blue in preparation for the T20 World Cup. India have the same squad that will play the World Cup except for Arshdeep Singh who is rested. The 3 games will be played at Mohali, Vizag and Hyderabad. It will be interesting to see if India women pick their team according to the conditions or according to what they want to do at the World Cup. A series in India demands them to play 3 spinners but India will not play 3 spinners in Australia for the World Cup. This is a tough decision for Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid to make because they will also want to play all the players they have available.

India's ideal playing XI:

Openers: KL Rahul & Rohit Sharma

In the pre series press conference, Rohit Sharma has been clear that KL Rahul will be opening the batting at the World Cup. There have been a lot of calls for Virat Kohli to open but both Rohit and Rahul have said that the opening pair will not change while Virat Kohli will be the 3rd opener. It is important that the pair get off to a good start to lay the platform for the rest of the team. Rahul can sometimes take time to get set but that is when Rohit Sharma will have to make up for it and play really aggressive cricket.

Middle order: Virat Kohli & Suryakumar Yadav

These two pretty much pick themselves and they will have a big responsibility. The pair are likely to interchange positions according to the situation. Suryakumar could bat ahead of Kohli if India need to keep the high run rate going. The very few times that these two have batted together it has been incredible to watch as they compliment each other really well. Deepak Hooda and Rishabh Pant are the other two options.

All-rounders: Hardik Pandya & Axar Patel

Hardik Pandya is arguably India's most important player and the team really needs him to be in good rhythm before the big tournament. His prowess with both bat and ball will be extremely crucial for India. In the absence of Jadeja, Axar Patel is the obvious choice but India did go with Deepak Hooda in Asia which proved to be a mistake. Hooda and Ashwin are the other options to play the spin bowling all-rounder's role but Axar is clearly the most sensible choice.

Wicket keeper: Dinesh Karthik

By far the toughest choice for the team management and the captain to make is between Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik. India not having a left hander in the Asia Cup Super 4s made them go with Pant. Now with Axar in the line-up, Karthik might get the nod simply because he has been a better player in this format of the game. He will be playing the finishers role where there is practically no room for error.

Seamers: Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar & Jasprit Bumrah

With Arshdeep Singh rested, these are the 3 seamers who are going to the World Cup and it doesn't make sense to not play them especially in the first game of the series. The trio compliment each other really well with the varied set of skills. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will predominantly bowl with the new ball while Harshal Patel is the death over specialist. Bumrah is the strike bowler and will do pretty much everything his captain asks from him. Mohammed Shami was supposed to be in the squad but he was tested positive for Covid 19. Umesh Yadav is his replacement who is a good option as a backup for Bhuvneshwar Kumar as he is great with the new ball as is the other option Deepak Chahar.

Spinner: Yuzvendra Chahal

Chahal is the clear choice to play as the sole spinner. The leggie has the ability to change the game at any point and he also has a good record against Australia. Ravichandran Ashwin is a good option to have and can be played in case there are a lot of left handers in the opposition line-up. It will be interesting to see if Rohit Sharma changes his approach with Chahal and bowls him more in the powerplay.

Bench: Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Deepak Chahar

Also read: India women breeze past England to win the opening ODI by 7 wickets