The omissions of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma may have flatlined anticipation, but India A’s three-match unofficial One-Day Internationals series against Australia A, which begins at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur on Tuesday, still has a palette of subplots on offer.
For India’s coveted duo, a return to action would have been more than a case of simply going through the motions. Now confined to just one format, which itself endures a perennial fight for relevance, Kohli and Rohit require momentum to prolong the twilight of their careers, till the 2027 ODI World Cup.
But their exclusion from the one-dayers here hints at a lack of plan. At worst, it can mean the much-dreaded end is on the horizon.
The path, however, has never been clearer for Shreyas Iyer. He leads the side shortly after pulling out of the second unofficial Test against Australia A in Lucknow, citing fitness concerns. India plays nine ODIs over the next four months, and going full throttle in limited-overs, after putting Test aspirations on the back burner, can aid his bid to not only earn a spot in the T20I side again, but also take over the reins of the limited-overs teams.
Another player retracing his steps is Ravi Bishnoi. In the only ODI he played, versus South Africa in 2022, Bishnoi conceded 69 runs in eight overs. But, by a consistent run in this series, it’s his T20 stocks that Bishnoi would want to replenish.
The leg-spinner rose to World No. 1 in T20I rankings in 2023, but plummeting returns off late have seen him fall behind the pack. Bishnoi claimed only nine wickets from 11 games in IPL 2025 and conceded at almost 11 runs per over. In T20Is for India since 2024, Bishnoi is the only spinner who averages more than 20 (among bowlers who have bowled in at least 10 innings).
Being shorthanded in terms of variations, in comparison to Varun Chakaravarthy, for instance, has not helped his case. But this series brings a chance for him to earn a fresh lease of life, and not just in T20s.
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The Indian squad also includes a slew of young guns basking in the glory of successful Indian Premier League campaigns. Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Vipraj Nigam, and Abishek Porel made noteworthy contributions and find a chance to turn heads with List A performances now. Others like Suryansh Shedge, Gurjapneet Singh and Simarjeet Singh have also been picked, mostly on the basis of performances in other formats.
With an influx of T20 specialists into the 50-overs pipeline, India might be turning to its hell-for-leather playbook that has led to a tectonic shift in its T20I side. That it might make a struggling format more watchable would be an add-on.
Australia A put up a strong fight in the First-Class games before wilting away in the final two days of the series.
The additions of Jake Fraser-McGurk and Tanveer Sangha, along with Cooper Connolly and Todd Murphy, who were already a part of the team, make it a side with enough international credentials.
The last List A game at this venue came in 2017, and Sangha felt his side could exploit the relatively unknown conditions to eliminate any home advantage for India A.
“We’ll just have a look at the wicket and assess how we want to go about our game. We’ve got our strategies in place and we’re going to follow it as one. We’ll go out tomorrow and see how the pitch performs and then communicate accordingly,” Sangha said on the match eve.
Published on Sep 29, 2025
