For Indian cricket fans, the wait is almost over. As India embarks on a tough ODI series against Australia later this month, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be returning in blue. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will announce their squad on Saturday, and after a seven month absence from representative cricket, Kohli and Rohit will both be back in the ODI mix.

Both Kohli and Rohit, who have been retired from T20Is and Tests, are now single-format players and will be focusing on ODIs exclusively. Their return adds significant fire power to India's batting arsenal as they prepare for three high profile ODI matches in Perth (19 October), Adelaide (23 October) and Sydney (25 October). Kohli's century against Pakistan and useful runs in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy against Australia and Rohit's match winning innings across the ditch in the final against New Zealand, indicates India is still hopeful about both of their services to the ODI match setup.

Selectors set to finalise India’s ODI squad with Kohli and Rohit back

The topic of captaincy is also on the agenda. Although Rohit has had a lot of success in leading India to a number of memorable victories, the selectors are likely to have a one-on-one dialogue with him as part of the decision-making process for his potential continuation as the ODI captain. According to someone close to the BCCI, barring any moving of the goalposts or as long as Rohit wants to keep batting purely, he should keep the ODI captaincy. 

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The team is expected to look a lot like it did in winning the Champions Trophy. However, the selectors will likely keep Shreyas Iyer who was India's top scorer in the Champions Trophy in place. Sanju Samson is expected to be kept in the squad as the backup wicketkeeper with KL Rahul as the first-choice keeper. Injuries will complicate things. Hardik Pandya is still out with a quadriceps injury while Rishabh Pant is making progress after his foot fracture. Alongside those two injuries, all-round options for the selectors now include Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shivam Dube. 

Selectors are also likely to take another look at Shubman Gill once he has appeared in the Asia Cup and a series of Test Matches. The selectors will consider resting him for the ODI series. In that case, Yashasvi Jaiswal or Abhishek Sharma may likely get the chance to open with Rohit. Notably, Abhishek has been in good form and not only provides an opening option but also offers an option of left-arm spin, which may be helpful in Australian conditions.

Jasprit Bumrah has been burdened with a great deal of work during the Asia Cup and the Tests that are underway, and it is possible that he could also be rested with the South Africa Test series considered the priority in November.

After the ODIs, there is a five-match T20I series starting October 29 which will provide opportunities for younger players while India prepares for next year's home T20 World Cup. For now, however, all focus will be on the ODI returns of Kohli and Rohit, who will give India a confident start to the tour with their involvement.