Iyer’s return is subject to fitness. The batter is expected to play Mumbai’s next two league matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy and will link up with the Indian team on January 9, if all goes well. The first of the three-match series will be played in Vadodara on January 11.

Gill will have plenty to prove as this will be his first outing after the T20 World Cup snub. The Test and ODI captain has been unlucky with injuries. A foot injury saw him lose match time during the T20I series against South Africa. The selectors and team management were unconvinced about his T20 form, and they opted for the more aggressive opener in Sanju Samson. Gill’s record in ODI cricket though is prolific, averaging 56.36 in 58 matches.

Middle-order churn

Iyer’s return pushes Ruturaj Gaikwad out of the squad despite his Raipur hundred in the South Africa series. Tilak Varma too finds himself axed without getting a hit in that series. One gripe in recent times has been a lack of coordination between the squads picked by the national selectors and the playing eleven put out by the team management led by head coach Gautam Gambhir.

While Gaikwad having to make way for Iyer is understandable, it defeats the purpose of the CSK captain jumping the queue to play in the middle order over Rishabh Pant. Gaikwad has been seen as a batter with a high ceiling, but opportunities have been too far apart to build any momentum.

Gaikwad was originally picked as a reserve opener against South Africa. In spite of his runs in the middle phase, he’s out of the squad while Pant keeps his place. It is more as a wicket-keeping reserve, but also as a middle-order back-up with Dhruv Jurel left out after warming the bench in the previous two series. Gambhir’s reservations on Pant’s batting methods had become a talking point, but the selectors kept faith with his mercurial game.

The middle-order churn is also due to the continued faith in allrounders Washington Sundar and Nitish Reddy. Both have, of late, failed to live up to their classification as dual role cricketers. In the previous series against South Africa, Washington didn’t get many runs, bowled only seven overs in two dew-affected outings, and was ultimately left out of the last ODI. Nitish didn’t even get a game. The pace all-rounder is in the squad only because Hardik Pandya is being kept fresh for the T20 World Cup. His bowling, even in Australia, was utilised only for 5.1 overs over two matches.

Persisting with the two to provide balance to the playing eleven seems fine in theory, but they have been unable to produce any match winning contributions, with bat or bowl.

In fast bowling, Mohammed Siraj finds his way back with the selectors acknowledging the need to have the extra pacer in a series which could again be heavily dew-affected. Siraj brings solid new ball credentials and would even want to prove his all-phase worth, a limitation that has seen him fall off the pecking order in ODIs.

Interestingly, only four players from the T20 World Cup squad make it to this ODI squad, and two of them are fast bowlers. With Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh retaining their place, the selectors didn’t see any merit in expanding options in the pace department.

Mohammed Shami continues to miss out. The senior pacer has played the entire domestic season for Bengal and delivered another three-wicket haul in the Vijay Hazare Trophy tie on Saturday. He will need to hold form and fitness to be back in contention for the ODI World Cup, to be played in late 2027.

Speedster Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Pandya continue to be rested. “Hardik Pandya has not been cleared by the BCCI COE (Centre of Excellence) to bowl 10 overs in a match, and considering the T20 World Cup to follow, his workload is being managed,” board secretary Devajit Saikia said in a statement.