As the focus shifts to white-ball cricket, starting with the bilateral limited-overs series against England later this month at home, and the ICC Champions Trophy next month in Pakistan and the UAE, all eyes will be on the composition of the Indian side, more specifically in the 50-over format, with the men-in-blue only featuring in three ODIs last year, and a total of six post that November 19, 2023 World Cup final in Ahmedabad.

As such, when the Ajit Agarkar-led senior selection committee meets later in the week to pick the squads, they can’t bank on recent international form. With retirements of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, the T20I side has already witnessed a revamp, and the Test side is already in a transition phase, and thus all eyes will be on the make-up of the ODI squad, both in terms of form and fitness of certain players.

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Despite battling a lean patch, veterans Rohit and Virat will continue to form the batting core of India’s ODI squad, with KL Rahul and Shubman Gill, the obvious choices in the top order. It remains to be seen whether Yashasvi Jaiswal, touted as an all-format player, qualifies as a top-order option for the format in which he is yet to make his debut.

However, with Rohit and Shubman proving to be a successful opening combination during the 2023 ODI World Cup, the selectors might be tempted to have the pair back at the top of the order. Following the World Cup, Rohit and Shubman were rested from India’s subsequent ODIs in South Africa in December that year, and India tried the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, B Sai Sudarshan and Rajat Patidar during that period.

With Rohit set to lead the ODI squad and open the innings, and Virat at No. 3, Jaiswal could be an option if India want to bring a left-hander into the top order. The 23-year-old has been in red-hot form and ended as India’s highest run-scorer in the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Test series against Australia, Down Under, and his domestic 50-over numbers are impressive: 1511 runs at an average of 54 and strike rate of 86.19 with five centuries and seven fifties in 32 innings.

Middle order puzzle

The middle order remains an interesting puzzle to be solved with the previous regime under Rahul Dravid preferring specialists Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh featuring in the middle order during the series against the Proteas in December 2023. But since Gautam Gambhir took over the reins of the side, India have played only a solitary ODI series against Sri Lanka, where the preference has been more for all-rounders, who could add that depth in the batting, and roll their arms.

During the series against the Islanders, India opted for the likes of Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar and Riyan Parag while veterans Ravindra Jadeja and Suryakumar Yadav missed the series in South Africa and Sri Lanka.

Jadeja, who hasn’t featured in a 50-over game post the World Cup, formed India’s middle order core along with Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Suryakumar after Hardik Pandya was injured.

Pandya is expected to return to the fold, having proved his fitness while playing domestic white-ball games for Baroda this season, while Parag is also expected to be fit after recovering from a shoulder injury, even though his selection isn’t certain.

Rahul and Pant for wicketkeeper’s role?

KL Rahul was India’s designated wicketkeeper during the 2023 World Cup and the bilateral series in South Africa and Sri Lanka, with Sanju Samson featuring as a back-up option against the Proteas, before Pant’s return to international cricket during the Sri Lanka tour, pushed Samson further down the ladder.

However, Samson’s absence from the ODI squad in Sri Lanka was criticised after the Kerala right-hander had slammed a hundred in India’s previous 50-over game in South Africa, where he played as a specialist batter at No. 3.

Pace battery

Out of international cricket since the 2023 World Cup final, Mohammed Shami came up with a three-fer against Haryana in their Vijay Hazare Trophy contest on Thursday. The right-arm quick, who underwent an ankle surgery in February 2024 was expected to return during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but his comeback was delayed due to issues with his right knee while playing domestic cricket for Bengal this season.

If Shami manages to finish off his Vijay Hazare Trophy duties without any issues, he could eventually make his way back to the national side.

Meanwhile, the status of India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, whose heroics in the BGT earned him the Player of the Series award for ending with 32 wickets, is not yet known. The BCCI is yet to disclose the nature of the injury that prevented him to bowl during Australia’s second innings in the Sydney Test, and in the scenario of the 31-year-old missing out, India would desperately seek the return of Shami to partner Mohammed Siraj as the new-ball pair.

Arshdeep Singh provides India another handy option with the left-arm seamer picking the Player of the Series in South Africa for ending up with 10 wickets from three games, including hauls of five and four wickets. Mukesh Kumar, who has been in brilliant form for Bengal in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, is also another option for the third seamer’s role, along with Prasidh Krishna.

Seam-bowling all-rounders

While Hardik Pandya remains the primary choice for the role, India has recently seen a surge in that department with Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana, joining the list. Both Nitish and Harshit were part of India’s Test side in Australia, where Nitish played all five matches and even scored a maiden century. Nitish, however, failed to impress with his bowling during the Test series.

Spin talk

With left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav presently undergoing rehab after a hernia surgery, India could turn their focus on the other tweakers. Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi and Sundar provide the team with the variety, even as Varun Chakravarthy could also be desperately hoping to get the selectors’ nod after being among the leading wicket-takers in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Tamil Nadu, and was India’s highest wicket-taker in the T20I series in South Africa in November 2023.