Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy against Australia will be closely watched.© AFP
Suryakumar Yadav has been named Indiacricket team’s captain for the five-match T20I series against Australia that starts on November 23, 2023, in Visakhapatnam. The squad bears fresh look as most stars who were part of the Indian cricket team at the Cricket World Cup have been rested. Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad has been named as vice-captain for the series against the newly-crowned ODI champions. The hosts picked only three players from the ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 squad – Prasidh Krishna, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar himself. However, Shreyas Iyer will join the squad for the last two T20Is in Raipur and Bengaluru and he will take over the role of vice-captain from Gaikwad.
Thiruvananthapuram will host the second T20I while Guwahati will host the third T20I.
Hardik Pandya, India’s star all-rounder who led Men in Blue in T20Is in many series this year, will miss out due to ankle injury sustained during the Cricket World Cup league stage match against Bangladesh. Sanju Samson does not find a place in the squad.
Among the players who have been picked, the performances of the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh will be closely watched as India begin a phase where they would want to give fresh faces a chance, with the 2024 T20 World Cup a year away.
Among the bowlers are Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar and Ravi Bishnoi. All of them have enough experience in T20s and have played for India. Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Shivam Dubey are the all-rounders in the squad. Jitesh Sharma is the back-up wicketkeeper.
The selected stars have been star performers in the Indian Premier League. With the BCCI selectors showing an inclination to give the younger lot a longer rope in the T20I format, the selected players would be eager to seal their spot for a longer duration with next year’s T20 World up in focus.
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. Shreyas Iyer will join the squad as vice-captain for the last two T20Is in Raipur and Bengaluru.
With Agency inputs
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