Team India is having a fantastic summer. After winning the first two Tests from Australia ODI Series in the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the team has announced an unchanged squad for the rest of the two Tests. KL Rahul, whose form is a concern for the team, has been retained but has been stripped of his vice-captain position from the squad.
Almost all of the members are the same as the squad announced for the first two Tests. Saurashtra’s Jaydev Unadkat, who recently won the Ranji trophy, will be back with the squad for the third and fourth Test in Indore and Ahmedabad, respectively.
Team India squad for the third and fourth Test: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.
Additionally, the selectors have also announced an 18-man squad for the 3-match ODI series against Australia. The likes of Shahbaz Ahmed and Rajat Patidar – who were part of the squad for the New Zealand series last month – have been left out. KL Rahul returns, too, at the expense of KS Bharat.
Sanju Samson, who has performed exceptionally in the limited chances he’s got, has been skipped for the limited-overs series.
India will miss the services of Rohit Sharma for the first ODI – who will be unavailable due to family commitments, BCCI said in a release. Hardik Pandya will lead the side in Rohit’s place.
Team India squad for the ODI series against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (Vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat
Interestingly, Team India’s star bowler Jasprit Bumrah has not been included in the Tests and ODI series. The talk is that the selectors don’t want to rush the Mumbai Indians pacer and want him to be fully fit for the ODI World Cup scheduled in October.
