Team India's bowling coach Morne Morkel has indicated that the Men in Blue will rotate players at the crucial number three batting position during the upcoming three-match ODI series against Afghanistan. The series begins on Saturday at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala.
With senior batter Virat Kohli ruled out due to a hamstring injury, India lacks its first-choice option at number three. Morkel stated that the team will use this opportunity to test combinations and explore different structures.
"And in terms of that number three slot, I think that's something that in this series we'll play around with, even if it's Ishan (Kishan) or KL (Rahul) or Yashasvi (Jaiswal). It's a nice opportunity now. We've got a couple of one-day games coming up, and we'll give guys an opportunity in different slots just to give ourselves a better idea in terms of how we can go and structure teams and have different options," Morkel said during the pre-match press conference.
Speaking about Kohli's absence, Morkel acknowledged it as a significant loss due to his experience and ability to anchor the innings in the middle overs. "Obviously a big miss, with Virat. He is one of the senior players in the team. The way he goes about his innings in that middle phase especially is something we'll miss. Unfortunately, we can't control injuries and all of that," he added.
The Indian squad for the Afghanistan ODIs includes Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, and Harsh Dubey.
