Suryakumar Yadav to lead India in Australia series, Shreyas Iyer will join squad as vice-captain for last 2 T20Is

After an impressive campaign in the 2023 edition of the ICC World Cup, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced India's squad for the upcoming T20I series against Australia on Monday. The five-match T20I series against Australia is scheduled to start on 23rd November in Visakhapatnam. Premier batter Suryakumar Yadav has been named India's captain for the entire T20I series against the Men from Down Under.

Rohit's white-ball deputy, all-rounder Hardik Pandya picked up an ankle injury in the round-robin phase of the ICC World Cup 2023. After missing the business end of the World Cup 2023, Pandya is reportedly advised six to eight weeks of rest by the medical team. With Pandya not fit to feature for the Australia series, middle-order batter Suryakumar was named India's T20I captain.

Shreyas Iyer will join squad as vice-captain

While star batter Suryakumar is leading the side in the absence of Rohit and Hardik, Shreyas Iyer will join the squad as vice-captain for the last two T20Is in Raipur and Bengaluru. Since Iyer is rested for the matches in Raipur and Bengaluru, opener Ruturaj Gaikwad is appointed as Suryakumar's deputy for the first three T20Is of the bilateral series.

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Axar Patel returns

Hosts India have retained most of its players who featured in the Ireland T20I series. However, India have opted to rest pace ace Jasprit Bumrah following the conclusion of the 50-over World Cup. A fit-again Bumrah captained the second-string Indian side in the Ireland series earlier this year. All-rounder Axar Patel has returned to the white-ball setup after missing the ICC World Cup 2023 due to an injury.

No place for Sanju Samson

Axar's exit from the World Cup squad paved the way for senior all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin to feature in the One Day International (ODI) roster for the ICC event. India have picked Ishan Kishan and Jitesh Sharma as its two wicketkeeper-batter options while superstar Sanju Samson was overlooked by the think tank for the Australia T20Is. The BCCI has also confirmed Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati, Raipur and Bengaluru as the venues for the T20I series between Australia and hosts India.

India’s T20I squad for Australia series: 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.