The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the Indian cricket team’s squads for the upcoming tour of Australia, which commences on October 19. The team will play a series of one-day internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against the Australian side.
In a surprise move, the selectors have replaced Rohit Sharma with Shubman Gill as the ODI captain. This decision has raised eyebrows, given Sharma’s impressive record as captain, including leading India to victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy without losing a single game.
Veteran players Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill will return to international cricket for the first time since the Champions Trophy. However, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been excluded from the ODI squad due to workload management concerns. Shreyas Iyer has been named vice-captain for the series.
Suryakumar Yadav will continue to lead the T20I team, with Gill serving as his deputy. Hardik Pandya has missed out on selection due to a fitness issue, with Nitish Kumar Reddy taking his place in the squad.
The team’s selections have sparked debate among fans, who have taken to social media to express their disappointment. Some have questioned the decision to remove Rohit Sharma from captaincy, while others have criticized the omission of certain talented players from the tour.
The Indian team will kick off their Australia tour with the first ODI in Perth on October 19. The series will conclude with the fifth and final T20I in Brisbane on November 8. The squads for the tour are as follows:
ODI Team: Shubman Gill (C), Shreyas Iyer (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli.
T20I Team: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Sanju Samson (WK), Washington Sundar, Abhishek Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
The tour is expected to be a closely contested series, with both teams looking to assert their dominance in the ODI and T20I formats. The Indian team will be seeking to bounce back from their recent performances and make a strong statement in the lead-up to future international tournaments.
