India’s all-format captain, Rohit Sharma, has revealed that up to five players will miss the third and final One Day International (ODI) against Australia. The third One-Day International (ODI) between India and Australia is slated for Wednesday (September 27) at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium. The forthcoming match will be India’s penultimate one-day international before the ICC World Cup in 2023.

Rohit and former captain Virat Kohli were rested for the first two One-Day Internationals against Australia. Team India’s Head coach Rahul Dravid also rested vice-captain Hardik Pandya and in-form spinner Kuldeep Yadav for the first two games. Pacer Bumrah, who had recently returned to India’s lineup, was ruled out of the second ODI.

Speaking ahead of the third and final ODI, skipper Rohit confirmed that India may have to field local Saurashtra players as he only has 13 players to select and a few of them have been hit by viral sickness. We have got a lot of players who are sick, and unavailable, some have gone home for personal reasons and some are rested. So,13 players are available, Rohit added.

Gill, Hardik, and Shami aren’t playing. Axar is unavailable for this game as he is recuperating from a left quadricep injury at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). We have got 13 players to choose from, so there’s a lot of uncertainty in the team, Rohit said. We want every player to be fresh during the World Cup and hopefully, they can come back fresh, the Indian captain concluded.