India opener Shikhar Dhawan has been released from the squad that was named for the first three One Day Internationals against Australia, starting Sunday. A BCCI release stated that he requested to be released from the team to attend to his wife, who is unwell.
BCCI also confirmed that the selection committee has decided not to name any replacement for Dhawan in the squad, which could mean KL Rahul will be the opener along with Rohit Sharma.
Earlier in Sri Lanka, Dhawan was released from the squad before the final ODI to attend to his ailing mother.
Dhawan has been in good form over the past few months, after making his comeback in the Champions Trophy. He was India’s leading run-scorer in that tournament, as well as the Test series against Sri Lanka.
The team for first three ODIs against Australia is as follows:
Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.
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