By Admin 
The first ODI match between India and Australia will be played in Perth on 19 October. Shubman Gill will be captaining the Indian ODI team for the first time, while all eyes will be on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has predicted the Indian playing eleven for the first ODI. He has also included Harshit Rana in his final-11.
Irfan Pathan chose playing eleven
While analyzing on his YouTube channel, Irfan Pathan selected Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill as openers. Virat Kohli has been chosen at number-3, who is just 54 runs away from surpassing Kumar Sangakkara (14234 runs) in terms of scoring the most runs in ODI history. Irfan Pathan has given the fourth position to vice-captain Shreyas Iyer, while the fifth position and the responsibility of wicket-keeping has been handed over to KL Rahul.
Fast bowling all-rounder will be Nitish Kumar Reddy. If Nitish gets a chance in the playing eleven, he will be making his ODI debut. On the other hand, the role of spin bowling all-rounder has been given to Akshar Patel. For the fast and bouncy pitches of Australia, Irfan Pathan has kept 3 main fast bowlers in the playing eleven. He showed confidence in Arshdeep Singh and Mohammad Siraj, while chose main spinner Kuldeep Yadav. Kuldeep who was the highest wicket taker in the Asia Cup with 17 wickets in the tournament. He has chosen Harshit Rana as the third bowler.
Irfan Pathan’s playing eleven: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana.
Harshit Rana should be fed
Talking about keeping Harshit Rana in the playing eleven, Irfan Pathan said, “I think Harshit will play. He is the only bowler in this team who can also bat. I think he can be played at number 8. I see him in this position as the third fast bowler. This will be a big opportunity for him to do well.”
Also read:
Countries that have won the most matches in One Day Internationals, India is not at the top; Pakistan number-3; See full list