Australia tour of India 2023: BCCI Announces India’s Squad for Australia ODIs; R Ashwin Included
In a much-anticipated announcement, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has unveiled India’s squad for the upcoming One Day International (ODI) series against Australia.
After their triumphant Asia Cup 2023 campaign, men in blue are all set to host Australia in a three-match ODI series, starting September 22.
It will be the last rehearsal for both teams before the start of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, slated to get underway on October 5 in India.
On Monday (September 18), the BCCI men’s selection committee announced Team India’s squad for the ODI series against Australia.
While the selectors named 15 players for the first two matches, they picked 17 players for the third and final ODI.
The most noteworthy inclusion in the squad is the return of the seasoned off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, signaling a significant twist in India’s ODI team composition.
The first two ODIs won’t feature leading big names such as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as youngsters like Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Varma have been picked in the squad.
Men of the series of Asia Cup 2023, Kuldeep Yadav was also rested for the first two games as veteran spinner R Ashwin featured in the team.
Left-arm spin all-rounder Axar Patel suffered a left quadriceps strain in India’s Super 4 match against Bangladesh on Friday (September 15) and was ruled out of the Asia Cup final.
Washington Sundar, who replaced Axar in the Asia Cup final, also retained his place in the team.
Squad for the 1st two ODIs:
KL Rahul (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja (Vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
Squad for the 3rd & final ODI:
Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya, (Vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel*, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin…