India and Australia are competing in a three-match series in which the Men in Blue have already taken a 2-0 lead. Only one match remains before both the teams compete in the World Cup. While India starting off proceedings with a dominant win in Mohali, they had an even more convincing win in Indore. The two teams will now lock horns in the final ODI of the series in Rajkot. Senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya were set to return for the final ODI.

On the eve of the third ODI, India captain Rohit Sharma who will return as the skipper after missing out on the first two ODIs, has said that while Shubman Gill will be rested for the final match of the series, Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya won’t be available due to personal reasons.

“Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, and Mohammed Shami aren’t playing. Axar Patel is unavailable for this game. We have got 13 players to choose from, so there’s a lot of uncertainty in the team,” Rohit said in the press conference ahead of the 3rd ODI match.

“Very happy with the last ten ODIs we have played. Bowlers picking wickets, batters getting important runs,” he stated.

After the Ausrtralia series, Team India are set to play two warm-up matches. They will initially take on England on Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati on September 30 before locking horns with the Netherlands on Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram on October 3. India’s first match in the ODI World Cup is also against Australia which will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

While India had already announced their squad for the World Cup, an injury to Axar Patel can force last-minute changes with Ravichandran Ashwin looking like the likely replacement for Axar, in case the left-arm spinning all-rounder fails to recover in time.