NEW DELHI: Shubman Gill-led India ODI squad for the three-match series against West Indies is set to assemble in Thiruvananthapuram by Thursday (September 24). Some players will reach the venue for the series opener on Wednesday night, while the rest will link up a day later.The series will see Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma back in action, while Ravindra Jadeja will return to the format after being omitted from the fixtures following the ODI series against New Zealand earlier this year. Most of India’s first-choice ODI players, vice-captain Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel, are on Asian Games duty in Japan. Their absence opened up slots for players like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Auqib Nabi and even the experienced Jadeja.With Hardik Pandya unavailable for selection, the selectors withdrew Nitish Kumar Reddy from the Asian Games because they are keen to give the young all-rounder game time to build and maintain his bowling volume. Head coach Gautam Gambhir asserted after the T20Is against Afghanistan that Reddy will improve when he bowls more in international cricket and even hinted at the possibility of playing both him and Pandya in the XI.“From Nitish’s point of view, it’s actually a great thing that he’s been withdrawn from the T20 format, and he’ll get game time against the West Indies as well. We know how important a seam-bowling all-rounder will probably be in a year, and when we go to South Africa. And once Hardik comes back, obviously it’s going to be good. Sometimes we could even go on to play both of them in the playing 11,” said Gambhir.The series is also important for KL Rahul to again cement his position as the first-choice wicketkeeper-bat in the ODI set-up. The think tank has explored using Ishan Kishan by giving him game time and even the big gloves, but Rahul’s consistency in this format has been right up there, and his experience will be invaluable in South African conditions. KL Rahul is currently training at the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru to prepare for the ODI series.The West Indies team has already landed and will commence preparations for the series.India ODI squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (vice-captain), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Siraj, Auqib Nabi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Naman Dhir.West Indies ODI squad: Shai Hope (captain), Jewel Andrew, John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Justin Greaves, Amir Jangoo, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Vitel Lawes, Gudakesh Motie, Keemo Paul, Sherfane Rutherford, Jayden Seales.
