Although the Cricket Board has not specified the exact nature of Sehwag’s injury but he is reportedly nursing a shoulder problem.

Shikhar Dhawan, the Delhi opener, is the only new face in a weakened 14-man squad for the three-ODI series against Australia which starts on Sunday. As many as seven first-choice players, including Sachin Tendulkar, have been omitted from the squad; while Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Pragyan Ojha have been rested, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma have been left out with minor injuries.

Dhawan, 24, scored a century in the Challenger Trophy earlier this week and was a regular member of the Mumbai Indians' march to the IPL final this year. He was also Delhi's highest scorer in the domestic one-day tournament last season, making 355 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The absence of India's three established one-day openers - Tendulkar, Gambhir and Sehwag - has provided the opportunity for Dhawan, who is likely to be accompanied by Tamil Nadu's M Vijay at the top of the order. While Aus also rested some key players..

Team India Squad: MS Dhoni (Captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja and Rohit Sharma.

Sun Oct 17
03:30 GMT | 09:00 local
09:00 IST     1st ODI - India v Australia
Nehru Stadium, Kochi    
   
Wed Oct 20         
09:00 GMT | 14:30 local
14:30 IST     2nd ODI - India v Australia
Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam    

   
Sun Oct 24
03:30 GMT | 09:00 local
09:00 IST     3rd ODI - India v Australia
Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, Margao