India have broken a decade-old streak by benching Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in ODIs

The Indian cricket team led by Rohit Sharma will embark on yet another journey in their quest to win the biggest prize in cricket, the coveted ODI World Cup. Last time in 2011, when the Indian team go their hands on the iconic silverware, the tournament was co-hosted by India alongside their neighbours Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. This time around, India are the hosts, and the 'Men in Blue' will fancy their chances and will start the tournaments as firm favourites.

3 things you need to know:

• India will play the Asia Cup prior to the ICC ODI World Cup
• Jasprit Bumrah has regained match fitness and will lead India in a three-match ODI series against Ireland
• India start their World Cup campaign against five-time champion Australia on October 8, 2023

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The conjecture around Virat, Rohit, and the white noise surrounding workload

(Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in action during IND vs AUS ODi series in 2023 / Image: BCCI)

The Indian team suffered a massive heartbreak at the hands of the Kiwis led by Kane Williamson in the semi-final of the 2019 ODI World Cup. Arguably, the strongest unit of the 2019 World Cup, team India were so close to the World Cup trophy but yet very far. With the constant chopping and changing, team India seems to repeat the same mistakes that they did before the 2019 World Cup.

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There is an interesting stat about Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, which might seem very intriguing but in the greater scheme of things is scary to look at. From 2011 to 2023, team India only played 12 ODIs without this iconic duo, but matters worsened between 2021 to 2023. In these three years, team India have played 17 ODIs without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the two finest batsmen as soon as Indian and world cricket is concerned.

Team India's injury concerns

Putting aside all the great things around hosting and home conditions, the two-time world champions will be highly worried as they currently sweat over the continued injury concerns to their key players, players who are sure to start if they get ready in time and regain full fitness. As of now, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul are dealing with injury issues and their availability is a cause of concern, because the biggest cricket carnival starts in two months.