Many have been tried out – after Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, the veterans, KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey and even MS Dhoni – without too much success. But it looks like Ambati Rayudu might be the solution.

Rayudu, who made his ODI debut back in 2013, has played 40 matches in the format, scoring 1230 runs at an average of 49.20. Despite the impressive numbers, he had been unable to pin down a spot, but he now has an opportunity to change his fortunes, and the series against the West Indies, starting October 21, will be his first step towards that end.

India’s bowling – pace and spin alike – has appeared very robust in recent months, but the prospect of adding more variety to the mix by including left-arm seamer Khaleel Ahmed has the Indian captain excited.

“I think it’s a great thing to have a left-arm seamer after so long. We had Zak (Zaheer Khan) and Ashish Nehra and after that we haven’t really had a left-arm seamer, so it’s good to see someone who’s come up the ranks. We thought bringing a left-armer into the mix would give us enough variety,” said Kohli.

“As a team you want as many options as possible and bringing in a left-armer like Khaleel – who has the ability to swing the ball both ways, gets good bounce and bowls at decent pace – is always an added luxury to have in the team and that definitely makes the job easier for people like Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) and (Jasprit) Bumrah who will feed off another variety in the bowling attack as well.”