Amid limited T20I fixtures for both the teams heading into the World Cup in June, the ODI contest will be looked at as part of the audition process.
Exactly a month after their heartbreaking World Cup final loss to Australia in front of a packed Ahmedabad crowd, India will return to the ODI format for a three-match contest against South Africa on Sunday. But the format has lost its value yet again with either side featuring a weakened squad. After a year of gaining thorough limelight, the shortest format has hogged the attention yet again with the T20 World Cup just six months away. And amid limited T20I fixtures for both the teams heading into the World Cup in June, the ODI contest will be looked at as part of the audition process.
Only three players - KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Kuldeep Yadav - from the ODI World Cup squad are part of this series against South Africa, with Iyer slated to be unavailable post the opening game on Sunday in Johannesburg in a bid to focus on the two-match Test series that follows.
This will leave the likes of Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh to continue looking to prove their case for the T20 World Cup team amid the absence of the regulars. Two fresh faces in the form of Rajat Patidar and B Sai Sudharsan have also been added to the fray while Sanju Samson has been named in an Indian squad for the first time since he was sent back from Asia Cup after being named as an alternate.
"I think it's too early to look at the bigger picture when it comes to ODI cricket. The focus is on the T20 World Cup, which is round the corner and there's not a lot of cricket left. The focus for the last 2-3 years was the ODI World Cup. Now it has shifted to T20 cricket and Test cricket always remains very important for our country, so the focus is on the Test matches as well," Rahul said in the pre-match presser on Saturday.
For Rahul, who will be leading the Indian side in the ODI series, it will be an opportunity to present his case for the T20 World Cup squad as well. However, while it should have been less of a worry for the wicketkeeper-batter when it comes to white-ball cricket, Rahul is set to face a fresh challenge.
A report on Cricbuzz a few days back said that Rahul is all set to rebuild his career as a wicketkeeper-middle-order batsman across formats. He did pull that off successfully in ODI cricket, but it will be worth observing if and how he manages to handle the role in Tests and T20I cricket.
The last time Rahul played in the middle order in Tests was in his debut game in 2014 against Australia in Melbourne. In 75 of his remaining 80 innings across his career in the format, he has always played as an opener, including his last appearance in Tests, against Australia in New Delhi earlier in February this year.
Rahul has primarily been an opener in T20Is as well, having last batted at a different position back in November 2019. But he also did not appear in the format since India's loss in the T20 World Cup semifinal against England last year. With India having as many as four opening options, including Rohit Sharma, where Shubman Gill will be the primary choice, it is more suitable for Rahul to aim for a middle-order role where there is a dearth of competition, with Jitesh Sharma being the probable candidate so far and uncertainty remaining over Ishan Kishan's defined position in the set-up.
When asked about the Cricbuzz report, Rahul admitted that he will stick to his role in ODI cricket and will be happy to perform in the same in other formats as well if the team asks of him to do.
"My focus is on this ODI series, and yes I'll be keeping and batting in the middle order," said Rahul. "I'll be happy to take up that role in Test matches. I've always been hoping to accept new roles. I'm happy to do whatever the coach and captain ask of me, and if that's the role that the team sees me in during the Tests, I'm happy to do that.
"Unfortunately I have missed a lot of cricket because of injuries and I'd like to make the most of my time and play as many games in whatever role is expected of me. For me the team comes first, and when we started playing the game, one of the first things taught to us was, 'This is a team game'. No position is yours and you have to be flexible and adaptable and do your best for the team."
Disclaimer: This Article is auto-generated from the HT news service.
