Just four nights after that big match in Ahmedabad and India’s heartbreaking loss in the World Cup finals, the Men in Blue will once again face Australia, but this time in a T20I series. The BCCI on Monday night announced a 15-member squad for the five-match series starting November 23 onwards in Vishakhapatnam which will consist of only three members of India’s ODI World Cup squad.
The team selected was largely the same as the one sent to Ireland for the T20I competition in August. However, in place of Jabsrit Bumrah, who has been rested along with most of the other members of the World Cup squad, Suryakumar Yadav will lead the side with Shreyas Iyer set to join the final series as vice-captain. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who led the Indian team to the gold medal at the Asian Games in October, will act as Suryakumar’s deputy for the first three matches. Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan is the only other player from the ODI World Cup squad.
Among the notable absentees from the 15-member squad announced was Yuzvendra Chahal, who was previously left out of the ODI World Cup squad as well as India preferring their only leg-spin option in Kuldeep Yadav. Chahal last played for India on the tour of the West Indies earlier in August.
Hours after the announcement, Chahal took to social media to share a cryptic, wordless post that instantly went viral. It simply had a smiley symbol and nothing more.
The series will mark the start of India’s preparations for next year’s T20 World Cup, which will be held in the United States in about seven months. Hence, Chahal still has plenty of opportunities ahead of him with the all-important IPL 2024 season just around the corner as well.
The competition against Australia will begin from November 23 onwards, with the first match scheduled to be played in Visakhapatnam before action moves to Thiruvananthapuram (November 26), Guwahati (November 28), Raipur (December 1) and Bengaluru (December 3).