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Dhawan to miss first three ODIs

Opener granted leave to be with his wife; India opt not to replace him in squad to play Australia

In-form Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan has been ruled out of the first three One-Day Internationals against Australia due to family reasons.

The BCCI announced on Thursday that Dhawan has been granted to leave to attend to his Melbourne-based wife, who is unwell.

Selectors have decided against naming a replacement for Dhawan in their 15-man man squad.

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When he's not on tour, Dhawan lives with his wife Aesha, a former amateur boxer who he married in 2012, and son Zoravar in the outer south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

Earlier this week, Dhawan posted a video on Instagram walking the wind-swept streets of his Melbourne suburb with Zoravar, riding a motorised bike, by his side.

The 31-year-old was also forced to miss the fifth ODI of India's recent series against Sri Lanka to return to India to be with his mother, who has since recovered after a period of ill health.

The absence of Dhawan for the start of the series is a huge blow to the home side; the left-hander scored two centuries in the three-Test series in Sri Lanka and opened the ODI campaign with an unbeaten 132 in Dambulla.

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He was also the leading run-scorer in the ICC Champions Trophy in June, posting scores of 68, 125, 78, 46 and 21.

With Dhawan ruled out, India will likely to Ajinkya Rahane to partner Rohit Sharma at the top of the order.

Australia may also be without one of their openers for the first match in Chennai on Sunday, with Aaron Finch in doubt due to a calf injury.

Australia's Qantas Tour of India

Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.

Australia T20 squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Jason Behrendorff, Dan Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa.

India squad (first three ODIs): Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.

ODI Fixtures


September 17: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

September 21: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

September 24: Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore

September 28: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

October 1: VCA Stadium, Nagpur


T20 Fixtures


October 7: JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi

October 10: Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati

October 13: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad