How is India's squad for Australia ODIs different from Champions Trophy 2025 squad?

The Champions Trophy 2025 turned out to be Rohit Sharma's last assignment as India's ODI captain, with Shubman Gill being given the prestigious responsibility for the upcoming tour of Australia. The Punjab batter was appointed as India's ODI captain on Saturday, October 4, as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squads to face Australia in three ODIs and five T20Is in October-November.

While both Rohit and Virat Kohli were named in the ODI squad, the former was removed from his role as captain. This turned out to be a debatable call, as Rohit had led India to the Champions Trophy title in March. Shubman, who is already India's Test captain and vice-captain in T20Is, will start his reign as ODI skipper on October 19, with the first ODI set to be played in Perth.

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee made six changes to the ODI squad from the 15 that won the Champions Trophy in the UAE in March: Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, and Varun Chakravarthy are missing, Hardik Pandya is recovering from a quadriceps injury suffered during the Asia Cup, Rishabh Pant has not yet fully recovered from the broken foot he sustained on the England tour, and Jasprit Bumrah has been rested.

They have been replaced by seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was injured during the Champions Trophy, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

It is interesting to see Chakaravarthy missing from the squad. He was among the leading wicket-takers in the Champions Trophy, bagging nine scalps in just three games at an average of 15.11. However, it seems that India have opted for a horses for courses approach, where they feel that three spinners - Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, and Axar Patel - should be adequate for the conditions Down Under.

Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer, who was India's highest run-getter in the 2025 Champions Trophy, has been named as India's vice-captain in the 50-over format. Shubman was Rohit's deputy during the multi-nation tournament.