Ashwin returns as India announce squad for first 2 ODIs against Australia

Mumbai: Ravichandran Ashwin made a comeback as the 16-member Indian cricket squad for the first two ODIs against Australia was announced on Monday.

BCCI's Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar announced the squad for the two games in the three-match bilateral series ahead of 2023 World Cup.

Ashwin makes a comeback after missing out on ODI matches for more than a year. He apparently made the cut as India, of late, has been putting a bit of emphasis on batting depth.

Senior pros Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya have been rested.

In the absence of Rohit, KL Rahul has been named Captain for the first two matches.

Another takeaway is the inclusion of Washington Sundar in the squad in addition to Ashwin. The Chennai lad was replaced with an injured Axar Patel for Asia Cup finals between India and Sri Lanka.

Shtreyas Iyer, who missed a number of games in the just-concluded Asia Cup, has been included in the side.

The bilateral series will kickstart on September 22. The next match will be held in Indore on September 24 and the final match will be played in Rajkot on September 27.

Team India for first 2 ODIs:

KL Rahul (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammad Shami, Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna, Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar. (UNI)