(Cricket news) After a disappointing ODI series against New Zealand, the Indian team is in Bangladesh preparing for their next challenge. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Mohammed Shami are back. Jasprit Bumrah is still out with injury while Ravindra Jadeja who was originally a part of the squad hasn’t recovered in time and has been replaced by Shahbaz Ahmed. Yash Dayal was also in the original squad but had to pull out due to an injury, he was replaced by Kuldeep Sen. This series is incredibly important for the team in preparation for the ODI World Cup. A loss or an underwhelming performance here will start disaster bells really quickly.

India’s ideal playing XI-

Openers: Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan

One of India’s greatest ever ODI opening combination isn’t seen playing together that often these days. However with the World Cup coming up next year they will be playing a lot of cricket together. It is important for India that they roll back the years and get India off to flying starts. This is a good opportunity for both these players to get some big innings under their belt. KL is the other option to open the innings along with Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tripathi 

Middle order: Virat Kohli & KL Rahul

Virat Kohli will be playing the ODI format for the first time since coming back to form. This is the best format to bring back his old consistency and score a couple of hundreds. The former Indian skipper has an excellent record against Bangladesh and he will be hoping to keep up with it.

There have been a lot of questions about KL Rahul’s place in T20Is but there can be no questions in ODIs. Batting in the middle order, Rahul’s form has been excellent and being the vice captain he has to be in the team. Leaving out Shreyas Iyer is going to be a tough call but Rahul and Virat cannot be dropped. India could go with just 5 bowling options by playing an extra batter but that will be risky.

Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan, Rajat Patidar are the other options.

Wicket keeper: Rishabh Pant

After a disappointing tour of New Zealand and underwhelming performances in T20Is, the team could drop Pant in favour of Ishan Kishan or any other batter as KL Rahul can keep wickets. However just 5 months ago, Pant scored a match winning century against England. Time after time he has delivered for India and he is an impact player. The team definitely needs to back him more because he has the ability to win the match from any situation. 

All-rounders: Axar Patel & Washington Sundar

India haven’t picked any wrist spinners in the squad, so that makes it easy for to select Axar and Sundar in the line-up as the two spinners. The pair at 6 and 7 can make the batting weaker but with Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar at 8 and 9 it becomes quite deep. Shahbaz Ahmed is the other all-rounder option. 

Seamers: Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami & Mohammed Siraj

Debutant Kuldeep Sen is an option but these four are definitely ahead in the pecking order. This particular pace quartet is very lethal and with an off spinner and a left arm spinner in support, India have a very good bowling attack. There will be quite a few eyes on Deepak Chahar as he didn’t look up to the pace against New Zealand. If he does end up playing then it could be his last chance as there are others waiting in line. 

Bench: Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Rajat Patidar, Shahbaz Ahmed & Kuldeep Sen

Also read: Is India’s loss against New Zealand in the ODI series a concern?