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India rest four stars for Australia ODIs

India will rest a quartet of leading players for their first two matches against Australia

Australia will face a weakened Indian side in the first two games of their 50-over World Cup warm-up series after the hosts opted to rest four key players following their Asia Cup triumph. 

They include captain Rohit Sharma, with KL Rahul to lead India in those fixtures, while also omitted are Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav.

India have already played six ODIs this September while winning the Asia Cup.

The squad for the third and final match is the one that will represent India in the World Cup on home soil - with the addition of Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar, who will be available for all three warm-ups.

Ashwin, India's preferred spinner in Test cricket, played the last of his 113 one-day internationals in January 2022 and was left out of the provisional squad announced earlier this month.

Axar Patel, who missed the Asia Cup final due to a quadriceps strain, has been named in the squad for the final ODI, but his participation is subject to fitness.

The three ODIs will be played between September 22-27 in Mohali, Indore and Rajkot. The World Cup begins on October 5 with Australia playing the hosts three days later in Chennai.

India’s squad for first two ODIs: KL Rahul (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan , Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

India’s squad for the third ODI: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

2023 Qantas Tour of India

September 22: First ODI, Mohali (D/N), 6pm AEST

September 24: Second ODI, Indore (D/N), 6pm AEST

September 27: Third ODI, Rajkot (D/N), 6pm AEST

Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa