The Indian squad for the upcoming Australia tour has been announced, featuring both ODI and T20 series. The discussions surrounding the announcement have been dominated by Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s return, alongside Shubman Gill’s appointment as captain. However, three key players who played vital roles in India’s 2025 Champions Trophy victory have been omitted. These include star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and pace bowler Mohammed Shami, who will not be making the trip to Australia.
The BCCI’s men’s selection committee made the announcement on Saturday, October 4th. The focus was primarily on the ODI squad, with anticipation building for the selection of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The decision to replace Rohit, the captain who had led the team to the Champions Trophy win just seven months earlier, with Shubman Gill, was unexpected. While there was speculation about Rohit’s future, it was anticipated that the captain who had recently led the team to victory would retain his leadership role.
Shami, a senior fast bowler, was a major contributor to India’s success in the Champions Trophy, and has also been dropped. In the Champions Trophy, Shami took 3 wickets in the semi-final, enabling the team to reach the final. He was the leading wicket-taker for India in the tournament, claiming 9 wickets. Despite this performance, he has been excluded from the team. While fitness concerns were cited for his absence from the Test series during the England tour, no such reason was provided for his non-selection this time.
Furthermore, spinner Varun Chakravarthy has also been excluded from the squad. Varun, a mystery spinner, also secured 9 wickets in the Champions Trophy, playing a key role in India’s success. He demonstrated economical bowling, taking 2 wickets in both the semi-final and the final. Despite his performance, his non-selection for the Australian tour came as a surprise. However, Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar did not offer any explanation for this decision. Notably, Varun will be included in the T20 series.
A significant decision was the dropping of Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja was part of the Indian team in the Champions Trophy. However, he did not perform exceptionally, taking only 5 wickets and scoring 50 runs. Nevertheless, he has demonstrated strong batting skills in the Test format recently, playing against England and the West Indies. Agarkar explained that Jadeja was not selected because they did not require a large number of spinners in Australia and it was deemed unnecessary to have three left-arm spinners. Agarkar affirmed that Jadeja remains part of the ODI plans.
ODI Squad for the Australia Tour:
Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhrul Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
