India have named their squads for the upcoming tour of Australia at the end of the year.
KL Rahul has returned to the Test fold for the first time since being dropped from the last tour Down Under in 2018/19.
India are set to face Australia in three T20Is, three ODIs and four Test matches from 27 November 2020 until 17 January 2021.
Rahul is in fine form during IPL 2020 and also makes the ODI and T20I squads. The current KXIP captain leads the run-scorer charts in this year’s tournament.
He is joined in the 18-man Test squad by RCB duo Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini, as well as KKR’s Kuldeep Yadav.
Ajinkya Rahane remains India Test vice-captain in support of skipper Virat Kohli.
Wriddhiman Saha and Rishabh Pant will continue to battle it out for the wicketkeeper role.
There is no place for injured duo Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma. Their progress will continue to be monitored by a medical team, according to the BCCI.
Four additional bowlers – Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kartik Tyagi, Ishan Porel and T. Natarajan – will also travel with the Indian contingent despite not making one of the three squads.
Chakravarthy Gets Maiden Call-up
Meanwhile, Kolkata spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been given his first India call-up. He has been included in the T20 squad following his IPL five-for against Delhi.
Others joining Chakravarthy in the T20 squad after impressing during the ongoing Indian Premier League is Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan.
Hardik Panya and Deepak Chahar both return to the T20 squad after missing the previous trip to New Zealand.
Kumar Out with Injury
Fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar won't be heading to Australia after picking up an injury that ended his IPL campaign.
Injuries in the bowling department do hand a change to Shardul Thakur in the ODI squad.
However, despite their inclusion in the Test reckoning, both Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw have missed out on the ODI and T20I squads.
India Test squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohd. Siraj
India ODI squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (vice-captain & wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur
India T20I squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (vice-captain and wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy.
