(Cricket news) After a 2-1 series against England and a whitewash against the West Indies, India will look to continue their ODI domination in the 3 match ODI series against Zimbabwe. All the big boys have been rested with the Asia Cup coming up later this month. Originally Shikhar Dhawan was meant to be the captain of the side but later KL Rahul was added to the squad after recovering from injury and he was named the captain. Washington Sundar was also a part of the original squad but he was ruled out after sustaining an injury while playing county cricket in England. Shahbaz Ahmed was added to the squad as a replacement.

Here's India's ideal playing XI:

Openers: Ishan Kishan & Shikhar Dhawan 

India have 5 different opening options in the squad. Ishan Kishan has just been dropped from the T20I side and he is likely to get an opportunity in this series even though he sat out for the West Indies tour. His batting position is unclear but opening looks to be where he belongs in white ball cricket. Vice captain Shikhar Dhawan will play a very important part in the series. He only plays one format of the game so it is very important for him to perform well and not lose his place in the side. KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad are the other options.

Middle order: Shubman Gill, KL Rahul & Sanju Samson

When KL Rahul captained the side in Rohit Sharma's absence in South Africa, he did open the batting. That series was a failure for India and Rahul himself. Since then he has played a couple of good knocks while batting in the middle order. Keeping the World Cup in mind Rahul will be batting in the middle order when both Rohit and Dhawan are available therefore it will be best for him to continue batting in the middle order where he has had the most success in this format. Shubman Gill had an incredible series against West Indies but there have been reports that he will bat at number 3 in this series. Sanju Samson has had decent performances recently but he is yet to get a big score internationally. This series will present him with a very good opportunity to do so. Rahul Tripathi is the other option.

All-rounders: Deepak Hooda & Axar Patel

Both Hooda and Axar were brilliant in the series against West Indies. They will be very crucial for the side with both bat and ball. It is very likely that the batting order is changed according to the conditions. Hooda will be brought into bowl whenever things go south because he has the ability to lower the rate of scoring. Shahbaz Ahmed is the other option.

Seamers: Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj & Prasidh Krishna

These 3 seamers also had a good series against the West Indies. They all performed well in difficult situations and have no reason to be dropped. Deepak Chahar who is making a comeback after injury is the other option along with Avesh Khan. It wouldn't be a surprise if Chahar and/or Avesh play the match because Avesh is a part of the Asia Cup squad while Chahar is a stand-by while the others are not in the scheme of things. The management may be looking to give Chahar and Avesh some match practice.

Spinners: Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep is the sole spinner in the squad and is likely to play all 3 games. He has just come back from an injury and will be hoping to stay fit and put in some good performances.

Bench: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Chahar, Avesh Khan, Shahbaz Ahmed

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