We'll play around no 3 spot with Kishan, Rahul, Yashasvi: Morkel ahead of India's ODI series against Afghanistan

India will play the ODI series opener at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala on Saturday.

With senior batter Virat Kohli ruled out of the ODI series against Afghanistan due to a hamstring injury, India are left without their first-choice option at number three.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Morne Morkel said India will experiment with the number three batting position during the ODI series against Afghanistan, with players like Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, and Yashasvi Jaiswal expected to be tried in the role. He added that the series provides a good opportunity to test combinations and explore different team structures.

"And in terms of that number three slot, I think that's something that in this series we'll play around with, even if it's Ishan (Kishan) or KL (Rahul) or Yashasvi (Jaiswal). It's a nice opportunity now. We've got a couple of one-day games coming up, and we'll give guys an opportunity in different slots just to give ourselves a better idea in terms of how we can go and structure teams and have different options," Morkel said.

Speaking of Kohli missing the ODI series, Morkel said that he will be a big loss for India because of his experience and ability to anchor the innings in the middle overs.

"Obviously a big miss, with Virat. He is one of the senior players in the team. The way he goes about his innings in that middle phase especially is something we'll miss. Unfortunately, we can't control injuries and all of that," he said.

India squad for the Afghanistan ODIs:

Shubman Gill (capt), Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer (vice-capt), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey (ANI).