Indian team for the 3 T20Is against Australia announced

The Indian selectors right after the conclusion of the 5th ODI against Australia announced the 15-man squad for the Twenty20 International series against the Aussies. While they have maintained the core of the same team that played the ODIs, a couple of specialists for the shortest format have also been included in the team for the three matches.

Ajinkya Rahane who hasn’t quite found a place in the Indian limited-overs team on a consistent basis is the only batsman missing from the ODI squad as he has been replaced by Shikhar Dhawan. The left-hander was excluded from the team after he requested the management for it owing to personal reasons. Rahane’s four consecutive half centuries in the five matches of the recently concluded series couldn’t earn him a spot for the T20Is.

The T20 specialists included are wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik who played the last match in the coloured jersey on the tour of West Indies. Veteran pacer Ashish Nehra who hasn’t been a part of the team since the last match against England in February this year returns to the team.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja remain on rest while the spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel who were extremely successful in the ODIs will continue to pose questions to the Aussies. In the pace department, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav haven’t been considered while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah will manage their charge as limited-overs specialists.

In the last five T20Is the Indian team has played they’ve won three while lost two. Being placed at the 5th spot in the T20I team rankings at the moment, this series gives them the opportunity to inch closer to the No.1 spot in the shortest format as well. A clean sweep here coupled by another in the upcoming series against the Kiwis will ensure the Men in Blue complete a hat-trick on the rankings chart.

Indian team for the 3 T20Is against Australia:

Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Axar Patel

Series Fixtures:

1st T20I – October 7: India v Australia, JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi | 7:00 PM

2nd T20I – October 10: India v Australia, Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati | 7:00 PM

3rd T20I – October 13: India v Australia, Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad | 7:00 PM