“At home, India will be very tough to beat. India will win but 5-0 (like against Sri Lanka) may not be possible as Australia are a strong side,” Ganguly told PTI.

Since before the start of the five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, Indian skipper Virat Kohli had made clear his intentions of identifying a core group of players in the lead up to the marquee event in the United Kingdom in 2019. The lack of a pattern in the batting order was evident as India experimented with different roles for different players. After wrapping up the series 3-0 in Pallekele, India made three changes in Colombo and then four in the final game. Even in the first three matches, where Indian played an unchanged eleven, batsmen and bowlers were moved around in accordance to the situation. 

Yuvraj was picked for the limited-overs series against England last year after the selectors were convinced of his form and fitness during the Ranji Trophy. The vote of confidence was cast after Yuvraj stacked up 672 runs in five games, including scores of 260 and 177. However, despite scoring 372 runs at an average of 41.33 with a strike-rate of 98.67 in his last 10 innings, he found himself out of the team for the Sri Lanka and the upcoming Australia series. However, Ganguly stated that if Yuvraj can work hard, he can certainly make a comeback to the team.