In a strategic move, the selectors have opted to rest several key players who participated in the ICC Men's ODI World Cup, paving the way for Suryakumar Yadav to captain the Indian team during the upcoming five-match Twenty20 International series against Australia. The series is set to commence in Visakhapatnam on November 23.
Following India's loss to Australia in the final held in Ahmedabad, the national selection committee convened at the Narendra Modi Stadium and took the decision to grant rest to all players, except Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and the inclusion of Prasidh Krishna as a replacement for the injured all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
The squad for the impending 5-match T20I series against Australia was officially announced on Monday. There are speculations that former India batsman and National Cricket Academy (NCA) chief V.V.S Laxman could be named as the team's coach, as chief coach Rahul Dravid, whose tenure concludes post the World Cup, is set to take a break after three months.
For the initial three matches, Ruturaj Gaikwad will serve as Suryakumar Yadav's deputy, while Shreyas Iyer will join the squad as vice-captain for the final two T20Is scheduled in Raipur and Bengaluru, as per the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The series itinerary includes matches in Visakhapatnam (Nov 23), Thiruvananthapuram (Nov 26), Guwahati (Nov 28), Raipur (Dec 1), and Bengaluru (Dec 3), as detailed in the BCCI release.
The squad for the Australia T20I series features most players from the World Cup team, excluding Jasprit Bumrah, who led the squad in the series against Ireland before the World Cup. Bumrah has been rested post his participation in the World Cup.
The team sees the return of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, and Ravi Bishnoi.
India’s squad: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vice-captain - first three matched), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain - last two matched).
(With Agency Inputs)
