Suryakumar Yadav To Lead India In T20is Against Australia; Shreyas Iyer Returns For Final Two Matches

(MENAFN- AsiaNet News) With Hardik Pandya still recovering from an ankle injury, Suryakumar Yadav will take the reins as the captain for the upcoming five-match T20I series against Australia, commencing on November 23. Ruturaj Gaikwad will serve as the vice-captain for the initial three matches, with Shreyas Iyer set to assume the responsibility for the final two games upon his return to the squad.

The T20I series comes swiftly after India's loss to Australia in the ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad, shifting the focus to the T20 format with the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA just six months away. Among the ODI World Cup squad members, Suryakumar, Ishan Kishan, and Prasidh Krishna are the only players retained for the entire T20I series. Axar Patel, recovering from a quadriceps strain that ruled him out of the World Cup, makes a comeback.

However, notable exclusions include Sanju Samson and Shahbaz Ahmed, both part of the squad for the Ireland T20Is in August. Despite their impressive domestic performances, Riyan Parag and Abhishek Sharma also miss out on a spot in the T20I squad.

The squad features Axar Patel as the allrounder alongside Washington Sundar, while Ravi Bishnoi serves as the sole wristspinner. Suryakumar Yadav, known for leading Mumbai in domestic cricket, will captain the Indian side for the first time.

VVS Laxman, the former coach of the India men's team, will take charge of the team for the five T20Is, starting in Visakhapatnam and moving on to Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati, Raipur, and Bengaluru.

India's T20I Squad for Australia: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vice-capt), Ishan Kishan (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer (vice-capt, available only for the last two T20Is).

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