India vs Australia: Major blow to 'Men in blue' as Shikhar Dhawan set to miss first three ODIs

In a major setback to team India, the opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan will reportedly not play in first three ODIs against Australia as his wife  Ayesha Mukherjee is unwell.

"Team India opener Mr Shikhar Dhawan has requested to be released from the team for the first three ODIs of the Paytm Australia tour of India, 2017 to attend to his wife, who is unwell," BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary said in a statement on Thursday.

Dhawan had also missed the last ODI of the five-match series and the lone T20I against Sri Lanka due to his mother's health issues.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to not name a replacement for the batsman as the squad already had 16 players.

"The All-India Senior Selection Committee has decided not to name any replacement for Mr Dhawan in Indian Cricket Team," added the statement.

The Delhi lad has been in tremendous form over the past few months, after making his comeback in the Champions Trophy. He was India's leading run-scorer in that tournament, as well as the three-Test series against Sri Lanka, which Virat Kohli and Co went on to win 3-0.

The team for first three ODIs against Australia is as follows:

Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), 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.

-With ANI inputs.