MUMBAI: Twenty20 matches and ODIs (5 T20Is, 3 ODIs) against England are set to begin in late January after India's tour of Australia. In the eventful year, the Indian cricket team lost the ODI series in Sri Lanka after winning the Twenty20 World Cup. After that, Team Blue lost the Test series with New Zealand. India is trailing 2-1 in five Test matches in the prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India now has the possibility of being eliminated without reaching the final of the World Test Championship. Indian Test captain Rohit Sharma, who is not at all in form, will have to retire if he loses the Test match in Sydney as well.
Meanwhile, there are indications that captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and star pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah will be rested from the one-day matches in the England series. This is part of BCCI's workload management arrangement. The series consists of five T20Is and three ODIs. BCCI has not taken the final decision yet.
India will play this series against England before the Champions Trophy in Pakistan and UAE. There are indications that this is for Rohit, Kohli and Bumrah to reach the Champions Trophy team. Bumrah is currently in brilliant form but Rohit and Kohli are in very bad form.
The fact that none of the other bowlers on the current Australian tour is in top form has created a huge workload for Bumrah. Currently, Bumrah has taken 30 wickets in four Tests. Rohit Sharma has just one fifty and 10 single-digit scores in 15 innings this Test season. Kohli, on the other hand, did not see double figures in nine out of 17 innings. Both had bid adieu to the shorter format of cricket with this year's Twenty20 World Cup victory.