Suryakumar Yadav is set to lead Team India in a five-game T20 bilateral series against the recently-crowned World Cup 2023 champions Australia. The series will begin on Thursday, November 23. Surya will lead the team for three games, after which Shreyas Iyer, who is unavailable for the first three games, will take over the reins from him, as per reports.
Young squad
Only four players such as Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan and Prasidh Krishna who were a part of the World Cup team will play in the T20 series. Rituraj Gaikwad is handed over the responsibility of Vice-captaincy of the team. The young team comprises emerging stars such as Rinku Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Jitesh Sharma, Avesh Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Tilak Verma. Axar Patel after being left out of the World Cup team, is also set to make a comeback in the team.
India’s T20 squad against Australia
Team India’s squad: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer (after three games)
Preparations for the T20 World Cup
The series comes right after India’s defeat in the World Cup finals to Australia. However, the series is important to test the probable squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the United States and West Indies next year. Most of the members of this young team were Asian Games Gold-medalists in China, and have made their spot by consistent performance in the Indian Premier League.
No Samson or Chahal
However, consistent performances from this stage will help these young players to be a part of the Indian cricket team for the T20 World Cup next year. So far, Sanju Samson and Yuzvendra Chahal have been sidelined from the bilateral series, hinting that both of these players are not in contention for a call-up. Sanju Samson was a reserve for Team India’s World Cup squad.