‘Aur koyi nahi hai kya’ – Fans react as Hardik Pandya set to lead India in 1st ODI against Australia in Rohit Sharma’s absence

Team India announced their squad for the ODI series against Australia on Sunday, February 19. Skipper Rohit Sharma will miss the first match of the 3-match ODI series due to family commitments. Hardik Pandya is set to take over and lead the Men in Blue in the 50-over first game in his absence.

“Mr Rohit Sharma will be unavailable for the first ODI due to family commitments, and Mr Hardik Pandya will lead the side in the first ODI,” wrote the Indian Cricket Board on Twitter.

Highlights from the squads: No vice-captain in Tests, Jayadev Unadkat makes a comeback

Interestingly, the selectors did not name a vice-captain for the Test squad after concerns over KL Rahul’s Test form. In the first two games, Rahul deputized for Rohit Sharma. The Bengaluru boy has a cumulative 117 runs in his last five Tests at an average of 13 and the best score of 23.

Jayadev Unadkat made a surprise comeback into the ODI and Test squad, competing with co-pacers Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik and Shardul Thakur for a place in the Playing XI. Jasprit Bumrah continued to miss from action due to his back injury. Riding on his impressive performances, Ravindra Jadeja has received a call back to the limited-overs game.

Reportedly, selectors were impressed by Unadkat’s recent performances in the Vijay-Hazare Trophy. The speedster helped Saurashtra win the tournament being the highest wicket-taker with 19 scalps from 10 games.

Here’s the Indian squad for Tests 2 and 3 against Australia:

Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.

Here’s the Indian squad for the ODI series against Australia:

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (Vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat.

Here’s how fans reacted to Hardik Pandya filling in as captain in Rohit Sharma’s absence: