Largely, things should look familiar and fairly by the book: there is a solid identity to this Indian team, with long-time players and plenty of experience in the core group. It might just be a question of how much experimentation goes into the squad, and whether members of the team who are part of the T20I squad as well might get a rest before a busy period coming up.

Here are key talking points to look forward to.

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Shubman Gill are near-guarantees

With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma only playing this format of the sport and Shubman Gill out of the picture from the T20I squads, India’s top three should be fairly settled and host no major surprises. Kohli and Rohit had successful outings in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, while Gill marks his return from injury which kept him out of the 50-over series against South Africa.

Shreyas Iyer’s injury return – does he make it in time?

After suffering a scary spleen injury in October against Australia, Shreyas Iyer has been out for a considerable amount of time, and is no guarantee to be back in action any time soon either. However, reports suggest that he is not too far from returning to competitive action, which might mean he could be in the picture for this series as well.

Just to be safe, the Indian vice-captain might be asked to sit this one out – in which case Ruturaj Gaikwad could reprise his role from the South Africa series at number four, or Yashasvi Jaiswal could get the chance to open with Gill dropping down the order.

Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah to be put on ice

Three key players who might be asked to sit out of these ODIs in preparation for the key T20I matches to come are the injury-prone stars lower down the order for India. Hardik Pandya was in sensational touch vs SA on injury return, but managing his minutes might mean that he will be restricted to the shortest format; Bumrah has become a player India hesitate to play in back-to-back series, and that could mean he will be saved for the World Cup.

Kuldeep Yadav has been a key member of both white-ball squads, but he too might earn the series off, with Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel leading the line with spin instead.

Mohammed Shami set for a comeback

Another injury-prone player who might actually get a chance to get some international gametime is Mohammed Shami, who hasn’t played for India since last year’s Champions Trophy, but has had a solid Vijay Hazare Trophy. The Bengal seamer might be called in for his veteran presence and to ensure there is no emergency in the seam-bowling ranks, and will always be a player the men in blue can bank on.

Have Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel banged the door down with domestic performances?

Devdutt Padikkal leads Vijay Hazare’s run-scoring charts at the time of writing, hammering three centuries in four matches for Karnataka and looking in supreme touch at the moment. Dhruv Jurel, batting lower down the order for Uttar Pradesh, has a big century and two fifties to his name, all coming at a commendable strike-rate of 138 – by far the highest amongst players in the tournament with at least 300 runs so far.

Both are making a solid case for themselves as back-up options at the very least, and could earn call-ups to this squad as a reward for their performances. There isn’t much room, but one of the two should almost certainly be brought up – potentially Jurel as a replacement for Rishabh Pant, ready as backup for KL Rahul.