Australia vs India: BCCI announces 16-man squad for the T20I series

Post the Windies series, Team India will be flying down under to Australia. The tour will commence with a three-match T20I series that will be followed by four Tests and three ODIs. The national selectors, along with the T20I squad for the Windies series also named the T20I and Test squads for the Australia tour.

Virat Kohli, who is rested for the home series will be back leading the side. There aren’t many surprise inclusions and the side isn’t much different from which will face the Caribbean side. Rohit Sharma will be the vice-captain of the side and will be opening the innings with Shikhar Dhawan.

No Dhoni in the squad

However, the biggest news is that the former Indian skipper MS Dhoni has been rested. The selectors want him to concentrate on the World Cup next year and at the same time try out the other keepers as well. The chairman of selectors, MSK Prasad said that they would want a second wicket-keeper groomed ahead of the World Cup. Hence, Rishabh Pant or Dinesh Karthik will don the gloves in his place.

KL Rahul will be the third opener in the side. Either of Shreyas Iyer or Manish Pandey could get an opportunity in the middle order. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal are the two spin options and Ravindra Jadeja has been ignored. Krunal Pandya, who is better capable with the bat get a nod ahead of him. Washington Sundar will be the other all-rounder option in the squad.

While Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah are expected to be the front-line seamers, they are backed up by Umesh Yadav and the left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed.

India squad for the T20I series:

Virat Kohli (C), Rohit (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed.

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