Another chance for the understudies

This debate might not have even happened were it not for Rohit Sharma's finger injury during the ODIs in England. Rohit has been out of action since late August, and Ajinkya Rahane has used the opening at the top of the order to make a maiden ODI century in England and a fifty against West Indies. If one man opens, the other will drop to the middle order, considering Shikhar Dhawan's ODI spot appears safe for now. Rohit has recently said that opening is what brings the best out of him. He backed his words by slamming 142 off 111 against Sri Lankans in the warm-up match. However, it might not be as simple as reclaiming his spot from the stand-in. Before the West Indies series, MS Dhoni had said that Rahane as opener and Rohit in the middle order gave more depth to the batting. Rohit had a standout series against Australia at home last year and averages 46.34 as opener since the start of 2013, but his strike-rate of 66.03 outside Asia during that period, has often increased pressure on the middle order. Rahane will have at least three more matches to push his claim, as Rohit is not in the squad for the first three games against Sri Lanka.

Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been regulars in the ODI side for a while, but the composition of the rest of the pace attack is not certain. Varun Aaron played in New Zealand and in the Asia Cup and hasn't figured in ODIs since but is part of the squad against Sri Lanka. Umesh Yadav played in South Africa and Bangladesh and also against West Indies at home. Ishant Sharma, whose workload has been steep in Tests, hasn't played an ODI since January, but has been included for the Sri Lanka series. Among those not in this squad, Mohit Sharma has had injury issues this year, but is also a contender for the World Cup. None of these four have played more than nine ODIs in the past year since the Australia series, compared to Shami's 22. None of them have taken more than eight wickets, compared to Shami's 51. While the economy-rates of three of them have hovered around run a ball, Aaron has gone for 7.64 an over.

Zaheer Khan's last ODI was in August 2012 and he hasn't played at all since his IPL injury, but he had sent down nearly 200 overs on the Test tours of South Africa and New Zealand when he was fit in the past year, and could be a left-field option.

Baroda's Ambati Rayudu has been the reserve batsman of choice in recent times, going on several tours with the squad. He could not capitalise on the couple of matches he got in New Zealand, and though he was given a full run in the Asia Cup and in bilateral series against Bangladesh and West Indies, his only notable score was a fifty against Pakistan. It was only in England that he clicked, with a couple of half-centuries. India might feel he has done enough to seal a World Cup berth, or they could give him a few more games to do so. One alternative is the experience of Yuvraj Singh, who hasn't played for India since the World T20 final in April but was Man of the Series in the previous World Cup.

Wriddhiman Saha has been the back-up wicketkeeper in Tests and his selection for the Sri Lanka series suggests he is second choice at the moment for ODIs too. When Saha got injured during the England Tests, Naman Ojha was flown in, while Sanju Samson was preferred for the ODI leg. Saha stands out when it comes to pure keeping, and displayed his limited-overs batting skills with a century in the IPL final. A couple of eye-catching performances with the bat against Sri Lanka could firm up his position. As for the other two, Ojha has been in incredible batting form in first-class cricket, while Samson's youth can be viewed as either potential or inexperience ahead of a world tournament.

Apart from lead spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra and Akshar Patel feature in the squad against Sri Lanka. Mishra is the attacking option, something he showed even in the World T20 when he lured batsmen out with flighted legbreaks. The larger outfields in Australia will provide him more protection, but they will also test his fitness as a fielder. Young Akshar has proved difficult to target in the IPL and in his few ODIs with his control and flatter trajectory. He also offers more as a batsman. Karn Sharma, who was included for the England ODIs but is not in this squad, is a fine legspinning allrounder at domestic level, and also has a strong arm from the deep.