India tour of England, ODI Squad Analysis: Rahul, Rayudu picked while Rahane dropped

KL Rahul and Ambati Rayudu have been recalled to the Indian ODI set-up after their magnificent performances in the ongoing Indian Premier League, while Ajinkya Rahane has been dropped from the squad.

Rahane was tested at the No. 4 position when India toured South Africa earlier this year. He had impressed everybody with his performance in the 1st ODI, where he was involved in a match-winning partnership with Virat Kohli and scored an 86-ball 79, however, Rahane could only manage scores of 11, 8, 8 and 34* in the remainder of the series. Manish Pandey, who was also a candidate for the No. 4 spot, has been dropped from the squad.

BCCI has also picked up the 27-year-old speedster from Punjab - Siddharth Kaul. The right-arm bowler has picked up 13 wickets in the 10 matches he has played so far for the Sunrisers Hyderabad at a very good economy rate of 7.05. Just like Kaul, Umesh Yadav, who had last featured in an ODI game against Australia in September 2017 has been recalled on behalf of his exceptional performances in the IPL.

The spin department continues to be without Ravichandran Ashwin & Ravindra Jadeja, while the 18-year-old off-break bowler from Tamil Nadu - Washington Sundar has earned a place in the squad instead of Axar Patel. Kedar Jadhav, Shardul Thakur, and Mohammed Shami are the other absentees for the upcoming series.

ODI Squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), MS Dhoni (WK), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddharth Kaul, Umesh Yadav


Team India will eventually suffer from the problem of plenty this time. KL Rahul's recent form makes him a strong nominee to open the innings, but if you open with Rahul, you would have to drop Rohit Sharma from the team which is a little unlikely because his stats in England are phenomenal.

Virat will also have to make a tough decision to chose between Shreyas Iyer, Ambati Rayudu & Dinesh Karthik for the No. 4 position, as all three have shown great form in the IPL and deserve a spot in the team. MS Dhoni will also have to demote himself at No.6 because of the problem of plenty.

Only one of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav shall make it into the Playing XI this time. If you field both of the leg-spinners, you will not be able to play either one of Umesh Yadav or Siddharth Kaul, and when you are playing in England you for sure want 3 quality pacers in your team.

There are a few inconvenient decisions for Captain Kohli to make. Here will be my Playing XI from the 16-member squad:

1. Rohit Sharma
2. Shikhar Dhawan
3. Virat Kohli (Captain)
4. Ambati Rayudu
5. Dinesh Karthik
6. MS Dhoni (WK)
7. Hardik Pandya
8. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
9. Umesh Yadav
10. Yuzvendra Chahal
11. Jasprit Bumrah

Cheers,
Sparsh