India name squad for Australia T20Is, Suryakumar Yadav to lead

Star India batter Suryakumar Yadav will lead the men in Blue in the five-match T20I series against Australia, commencing on November 12 in Visakhapatnam.

Former India cricketer VVS Laxman has been appointed as the head coach for the series, which will conclude in Bangalore on December 3. The majority of the squad from the Ireland series has been retained. Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah, the captain for that series, has been rested. 

The forthcoming one against Australia will be India's first assignment after the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup. The Rohit Sharma-led side were stunning throughout the tournament but fell short in the summit clash against the same opponents at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19, missing out on their quest for winning the prestigious title for the third time. 

Suryakumar brings valuable leadership experience from captaining both the Mumbai team at the domestic level and the India Under-23 team in the Emerging Cup a few years ago. The world's top-ranked T20I batter had previously served as the vice-captain of team India during the West Indies tour.

India’s squad: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vice-captain), 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

Prasidh Krishna, who was a part of the World Cup squad, has also been included in the upcoming series. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya, who has been sidelined due to an ankle injury sustained during the marquee event, will not be considered due to the need for additional recovery time.

The selectors of the national team, convening in Ahmedabad, earlier contemplated Shreyas Iyer for the captaincy. However, they made a change of plans, citing concerns about the workload the middle-order batter has shouldered in recent months, beginning with the Asia Cup. However, he will join the team as the vice-captain for the last two games in Raipur and Bengaluru.

Additionally, the appointment of VVS Laxman as a coach is understood to manage India head coach Rahul Dravid's workload after three intense months of work. Moreover, officially Dravid's tenure has ended with the World Cup. Dravid, having focused entirely on the World Cup, is yet to reflect on his future plans.