Hello from Lucknow: Shikhar Dhawan & Co. start preparations for ODI series against South Africa - see picture

After the conclusion of the three-match T20I series against South Africa on Tuesday (October 4), the Indian men’s cricket team will take on the visitors in a three-match ODI series. The first match of the series will be played at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Thursday (October 6), and ahead of the series opener, the Indian team has checked-in at the stadium in Lucknow and started practicing for the first ODI.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced a much-changed squad for the ODI matches from the T20I ones. Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Mohammed Siraj are the only four players from the T20I squad who will be part of the ODI matches as well.

Since the main India squad is set to travel to Australia on October 6 to take part in the upcoming edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, a second-string team has been selected for the ODI assignment. Senior opening batter Shikhar Dhawan will lead the side one more time and will have Iyer as his deputy.

Iyer played for India in the third T20I on Tuesday (October 4) but failed to do much with the bat and was sent back to the dugout for just one run off four balls. He will hope to come up with a better show in the upcoming games to get into a good groove ahead of travelling to Australia for the T20 World Cup. While the 15-member squad will leave for Australia on October 6, the four reserves – Mohammed Shami, Deepak Chahar, Ravi Bishnoi, and Shreyas Iyer – along with Mohammed Siraj, will travel after the conclusion of the South African ODIs.

The Shikhar Dhawan-led Indian team checked-in in Lucknow on Tuesday and started practicing at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in the evening session under lights. The BCCI’s official Twitter handle shared a picture of players and support staff standing in a huddle.

For the upcoming ODI matches, India included Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar and Bengal pacer Mukesh Kumar for the first time in the Indian squad. Also, Avesh Khan has been selected for the first time since he got injured during the Asia Cup last month.