By Sudipta Biswas

Copyright timesnownews

India’s white-ball tour of Australia is set to begin on Sunday at Perth Stadium in Perth. The series will mark the return of talismanic batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to India’s ODI team for the first time since March, when India clinched the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai under the captaincy of Rohit. Since that momentous occasion in Indian cricket, a lot of things have changed, with Rohit and Kohli calling time on their Test careers. Shubman Gill replaced Rohit as India’s new Test skipper. Following India’s swift transition in the longest format of the game, the BCCI selection committee demoted Rohit and handed Shubman Gill the ODI captaincy as well. On Thursday, several key members of the Indian squad landed in Australia for the three-match series. The players who touched down in Perth included Rohit, Kohli, K. L. Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, and Nitish Kumar Reddy. Head coach Gautam Gambhir and his support staff are expected to join the team later, having left Delhi on Wednesday evening. After the first ODI on October 19, the second and third ODIs will be played in Adelaide and Sydney on October 23 and 25, respectively. The series will be followed by a five-match T20I series starting October 29. The Indian team’s arrival was delayed after their flight to Australia departed nearly four hours behind schedule, resulting in further rescheduling during their transit in Singapore. The team eventually arrived in Perth around 4 a.m. and checked into their hotel. The upcoming ODI series has generated widespread interest as it marks the return of Kohli and Rohit. Their future in ODI cricket has become a hot topic, especially after Gill took over the captaincy. India’s schedule in Australia for the ODI series: October 16: Arrive in Perth October 16: Optional practice session at Perth Stadium October 17: Practice session at Perth Stadium October 17: Press conference at 12:30pm local time October 18: Practice session at Perth Stadium October 18: Press conference at 1pm local time October 19: Australia vs India 1st ODI in Perth (9am IST) October 20: Travel to Adelaide October 21: Training Session at Adelaide Oval October 22: Training Session at Adelaide Oval October 22: Press conference after training October 23: Australia vs India 2nd ODI in Adelaide (9am IST) October 24: Travel to Sydney October 25: Australia vs India 3rd ODI in Sydney (9am IST)