Indian cricket team for Australia tour announced

The BCCI has announced India squad for the upcoming Australia tour. The Virat Kohli-led side is set to travel Down Under soon after the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) ends on November 10. India is scheduled to play three ODIs, as many T20Is and four Tests against Australia from next month starting from November 26 and the tour will go well into next year as well. The schedule though is officially yet to be announced.

India have been dealt with a huge blow with as Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the whole tour. As far as the squad is concerned, the Test team has a similar look which travelled to New Zealand earlier this year. Hardik Pandya has been overlooked given that he isn’t bowling in the ongoing IPL due to his back issues. However, the all-rounder has made it to the ODI and T20I squad which was expected.

Incidentally, he was also part of the ODI squad against South Africa in March only for the series to be postponed due to COVID-19. The Test regulars Hanuma Vihari and Cheteshwar Pujara, the only two players not featuring in the IPL, have been picked as expected. Even Mayank Agarwal has made it to the Test squad despite currently being injured and not playing in their respective team’s erstwhile encounters.

Meanwhile, with Ishant Sharma being injured, Navdeep Saini and Mohammed Siraj have also made it to the touring group. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is not a part of any squads after the injury he sustained in the IPL while featuring for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

KL Rahul to don wicket-keeping gloves in Australia too

After showing prolific form for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) as an opener, KL Rahul looks set to open the innings in T20Is with Shikhar Dhawan as Rohit Sharma is not the part of the squad.

Rishabh Pant is not the part of the ODI and T20I team. However, he has been the part of the Test squad and the way he performed in Australia Tests last time around, the southpaw can play ahead of Wriddhiman Saha in Tests though much like it happened in New Zealand.

Varun Chakravarthy has got his maiden call-up in the T20I squad after his latest five-wicket haul in the ongoing IPL and it remains to be seen if he gets an opportunity.

Here are the squads:

T20I squad: Virat Kohli (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (vc & wk), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy

Test squad: Virat Kohli (Capt), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya(vc), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj

ODI squad: Virat Kohli (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (vc & wk), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur