R Ashwin and Shreyas Iyer are poised for a comeback after their respective absences from the cricket scene. Iyer briefly participated in India’s first two Asia Cup games in Pallekele, while Ashwin has only played two ODIs in the past six years. Both players are set to feature in the playing XI for the first ODI against Australia in Mohali on Friday (September 22).
It is crucial for the Indian team to assess Iyer’s fitness, especially since he had to sit out the Super 4 game in Colombo due to back spasms — more so because he is part of the World Cup squad. The team management is keen to test his readiness. Captain Rohit Sharma recently stated that Iyer is 99 percent ready.
“It (the three-match series) gives us an opportunity for some players who need game time,” remarked India coach Rahul Dravid on the eve of the first of the three ODs, strongly suggesting Iyer’s inclusion in the XI. Iyer’s return seems certain, just as Ashwin’s, whose experience is highly valued by the team management.
“Having someone of Ashwin’s experience and for him to come back is good for us. Ashwin provides you that experience, and also that ability to contribute with the bat at No 8. And (he is) someone we always thought of in case of injuries or opening up of opportunities. I know he has not played a lot of one day cricket lately but someone of his experience can really do very well,” Dravid said.
“”He is playing 50-over cricket after a long time. I wouldn’t say it’s a trial for him, we know his quality, but it’s an opportunity to see him play in this format and play many games in this format. We just want to give him that opportunity to be able to play two or three games if required before the World Cup.”
Suryakumar Yadav’s ODI record hasn’t matched his Twenty20 performances, raising questions about his suitability for the format. However, he is set to be tried in the three ODIs, with no concerns about being excluded from the World Cup squad on October 27, as teams have until that day to make changes.
“I don’t think he needs to worry about the 27th deadline. We’ve picked our team for the World Cup and Surya is in it. We made that decision to do that and we completely backed him. We back him because he has got a certain quality and an ability that we have seen.
“Yes, we’ve seen it at the moment in T20 cricket but we know the kind of impact a player like him can make batting at 6. He can change the course of a game. So we have completely backed him, we are pretty clear about that, there’s been total clarity on the fact that we are completely behind him, and we know that hopefully he’ll be able to turn it around. He is someone who will get these three games – at least the first couple – to be able to develop and keep growing on his journey as a one-day cricketer. But in terms of selection, we’ve made our decision.”
Regarding the decision to rest senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Hardik Pandya for the first two games of the current series, Dravid explained, “With people like Virat and Rohit specifically, from our perspective it’s really important that we get them to that first game of the World Cup physically and mentally in the space that they want to be in. At this level, the amount of cricket that they’ve played, they know how they need to prepare themselves. And a lot of these decisions are made in discussion with them in an effort to try and get all our players…obviously not just the two of them but certainly the senior and the more experienced guys have their routines and know what they need to get into that first game just in the right frame of mind.
“So a lot of these decisions are taken in discussion with them. We discuss with them how best they would like to prepare in the lead-up to big events like the World Cup. We’ve come up with some mutual decisions on deciding that probably these two games were good games for them to take off, just to refresh mentally more than anything else. And then come back to Rajkot and then it’s going to be a tough couple of months ahead for us,” the coach said.
The matches in the series will start at 1:30 pm, while the subsequent day-night games of the World Cup will kick off at 2 pm.