As the Indian Men’s national cricket team face the mighty Aussies in their backyard, the team will miss the prolific opener, a hard-hitting batsman and seasoned campaigner Rohit Sharma in the limited-overs format, as per PTI report.  

Team India will tour Australia from November 2020 to January 2021 and will play three one day internationals, three Twenty20 International matches and four Tests during the gruelling down under series, and have been dealt with a sharp blow as menacing opener Rohit Sharma will not feature in the limited over format. 

The absence of Rohit Sharma will leave the Indian side vulnerable at the top and the absence of a seasoned campaigner at the top of the batting order is something that Australian squad will look to exploit.

While youngster Shubham Gill and a cautious Mayank Agarwal have been touted as replacements for Rohit Sharma and will have to partner with in-form batsman Shikhar Dhawan, the prospect of facing Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins and opening the innings for the national team will be a daunting prospect.

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Captain Kohli will also have his task cut out as he must combat high-quality pace attack and navigate cautiously against wrist spinner Adam Zampa, who has at times proved costly for the team India captain.

Similarly, the current Australian side will be boosted by the presence of the maverick Steve Smith who is gradually regaining his form. Australia will also be boosted by an eternally hungry David Warner and prodigy Marnus Labuschagne.

Team India will also miss ace pacer Bhuvnesh Kumar and must make do with the attacking duo of Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, but the management must also keep in mind the arduous schedule of over two months.

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Hence Shardul Thakur and Navdeep Saini will find themselves in the thick of things if the two seniors are rested.

The team India squad for the first ODI on November 27:

India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (vice-captain & wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur 

The Australian side playing at home will choose its Playing XI from:

Australia: Aaron Finch (Captain), David Warner, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Cameron Green, Moises Henriques, Andrew Tye, Daniel Sams, Matthew Wade (wicketkeeper).