The first group of Indian cricketers to depart on Wednesday for a three-match ODI series against Australia starting on October 19 included senior stars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, pacers Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna, and a few support staff members joined Kohli and Rohit.
A few devoted fans lined up outside the entrance to get a peek of the group as they arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport in the morning.
In the evening, head coach Gautam Gambhir and a few other coaching staff members will depart.
India will play three ODIs, first in Perth on Sunday and then in Adelaide and Sydney. A five-match T20 International series will follow from October 29, and the format experts are scheduled to depart on October 22.
Since Rohit and Kohli are both now retired from Test and Twenty20 international cricket, the ODI series has created a lot of buzz about their futures.
Following Tuesday’s 2-0 Test series whitewash of the West Indies, Gambhir expressed his hope that the two would do well in the forthcoming assignment, but he remained evasive regarding their chances of playing in the 2027 World Cup.
“The 50-over World Cup is still two and a half years away. It is very important to stay in the present. Obviously they are quality players. They are coming back. Their experience is going to be valuable in Australia,” Gambhir had said in the post-series press conference.
“Hopefully those two guys can have a successful tour, and more importantly, as a team we can have a successful series,” Gambhir added when asked about the future of the two former skippers.
