The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on Monday, announced the T20I, ODI and Test squad for their upcoming tour of Australia, with Rishabh Pant failing to make the cut in the limited-overs format. He, however, has been included in the Test squad. The major exclusion, though, has been that of Rohit Sharma from all three formats as he sweats on his current injury woes. The BCCI, in a statement, has said that the 'medical team will continue to monitor the progress of Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma.'
There have been a few notable inclusions, especially in the T20I squad, with Kolkata spinner Varun Chakravarthy in line for his debut. Meanwhile, wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul has been named as the vice-captain for the limited-overs series. Furthermore, the likes of Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kartik Tyagi, Ishan Porel and T. Natarajan have also been included as four additional bowlers and will travel with the squad Down Under. Hardik Pandya, on the other hand, has been named in the limited-overs series squad. He hasn’t played for India since September 22 last year.
It is to note that Mumbai batsman Suryakumar Yadav has once again been overlooked despite having a strong Indian T20 League season. India will play three ODIs, three T20Is, and a four-match Test series in Australia. Sydney and Canberra will host the white-ball leg after the New South Wales government allowed the travelling players to continue with their training even during the quarantine. The BCCI and Cricket Australia haven't released the official dates for the tournament, but as per the provisional schedule, the tour will start with ODIs on November 27, while the last of the four Tests will begin in Brisbane from January 15. BCCI haven't responded to the proposal yet.
India T20I squad for Australia tour:
Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (vice-captain and wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy
India ODI squad for Australia tour:
Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (vice-captain & wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur
India Test squad for Australia tour:
Virat Kohli (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohd. Siraj
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Marty Melville
