India announce 15 member squad for upcoming bilateral series in Australia; Surprising picks

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia down under. This will be a great preparation for the Blue Brigade, who won the Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai earlier this year beating New Zealand in the final and now aims to get continue the same dominance during the 50-over World Cup 2027 in South Africa.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the two veterans of Indian cricket, who have already retired from the shortest and longest format of the game, return for the series as India rested their senior member, Jasprit Bumrah, for the ODIs looking ahead in the long home seasonbefore he returns for the T20Is. Shubman Gill has replaced Rohit to be the new leader of the 50-over side.  

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This ODI series will be incredibly crucial for the Rohit Sharma and Kohli, who will be under pressure to find the batting flow and rhythm straightaway with the bat. There were questions if Rohit should look to retire from the ODI format while there were lack of communication from the Delhi-born. They didn’t also play the three unofficial ODIs for India A against Australia A.

India name 15-member squad for upcoming ODI and T20I series against Australia 

Hardik Pandya, the premier all-rounder of the 50-over format, hasn’t been part of the squad as he injured himself and missed the Asia Cup 2025 final last week against Pakistan. He will need another three weeks to fully get recovered while Rishabh Pant continues to develop from the foot injury that he picked up during the England Test series in the UK.

Mohammed Siraj will be the leader of the pace attack while the focus will also be on the two spinners. Axar Patel will be ahead in the selection for the eleven in comparison to Washington Sundar while Kuldeep Yadav will be the leading spinner for the 50-over format. In T20Is, Varun Chakravarhy will return to the squad as the selectors have showed confidence on Dhurv Jurel as the back-up wicket-keeper. 

The opening game will be played on January 19 at the Optus Stadium before the action moves to Adelaide Oval four days later. The third and final 50-over encounter will be played on October 25 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney.

India’s squad for three-match ODI series against Australia 

Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk.), Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (wk.), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Arshdeep Singh. 

India's squad for three-match T20I series against Australia 

Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Tilak Verma, Nitish Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk.), Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk.), Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Wasington Sundar.