The wounds of Sunday night's gutting defeat to Australia in the final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 are still fresh, but India have no time to reflect as they prepare to take on the Aussies again, starting Thursday, November 23. The Men In Blue will play a five-match T20I series against Australia, with the first game slated in Visakhapatnam. (World Cup 2023 | Streaming | Cricket News)
A 15-member Indian squad for the T20I series was announced on Monday night. The squad selected is similar to the one that went to Ireland for a T20I in August. But instead of seamer Japsrit Bumrah, who has been rested along with most other members of the 2023 ODI World Cup squad, middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav will be leading the team.
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Another middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer will join the team for the last two T20Is as the vice-captain. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who led the Indian team to the Asian Games 2023 gold medal in October, will serve as Suryakumar's deputy for the first three games. Apart from Suryakumar and Shreyas, wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan and pacer Prasidh Krishna are the only other players from the ODI World Cup team.
ALSO READ: IND Vs AUS T20I Head-To-Head Record
However, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was again left out of the Indian team. Chahal had earlier been omitted from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 squad as well, with the selectors preferring the left-arm spin option of Kuldeep Yadav. Chahal last played in India colours during the West Indies tour in August.
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Hours after the team was announced, Chahal took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and tweeted a solitary smiley. The cryptic tweet, devoid of any words, appears to be his reaction to being left out of the team one more team.
Apart from Chahal, wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson too did not find a place in the 15-member squad. Samson made a modest 138 runs from eight matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at an average of 27, and his strike-rate hovered around 145. He had made two fifties in the event. Samson will take part in the upcoming Vijay Hazare one-day tournament, where he will lead Kerala.
Former India batter VVS Laxman will be the head coach of the Indian team for the T20I series against Australia.
India 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.
