The focus will be on pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah as the current selection committee will have its final meeting here on Monday to pick the teams for three T20Is against Sri Lanka and as many ODIs against Australia.
Bumrah, who recently bowled at the India nets after recovering from stress fracture, is fit again and could be picked for the T20I series against Sri Lanka beginning on January 5, or the ODI series against a full-strength Australian side starting on January 14.
Bumrah will most likely make a return for the Australia series.
However, since Bumrah didn’t do his rehabilitation at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy (NCA), he was asked by NCA director Rahul Dravid to get his clearance from where he spent in his recovery time.
“In case of Bumrah, Indian team physio Nitin Patel and trainer Nick Webb checked him in Visakhapatnam (earlier this week). He bowled full tilt over there. Since Australia series starts on January 14, he could just play a Ranji game and get some overs under his belt. In any case, it will also depend on how Virat (Kohli) looks at it,” the source said.
Kohli is expected to join via video conference.
Deepak Chahar’s fitness will be a cause of concern as he was ruled out of the third ODI against the West Indies.
Shikhar Dhawan is also returning to full fitness but might have to play some domestic cricket to get back into the groove.
