Suryakumar Yadav has been appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team for the upcoming T20I series against Australia, which will commence on Thursday, November 23. Ravichandran Ashwin, an experienced all-rounder, extended his congratulations to Yadav on this achievement. Yadav will lead the team in the absence of regular captain Rohit Sharma and vice-captain Hardik Pandya, who have been rested following India’s defeat in the World Cup final against Australia. Several other key players including Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Shubman Gill have also been given a rest for the five-match series.
For the first three T20Is, Yadav will be supported by Ruturaj Gaikwad as his deputy. Shreyas Iyer will join the squad for the final two T20Is in Raipur and Bengaluru and will take over the role of vice-captain from Gaikwad.
Ashwin, in an Instagram post, wished Yadav, the top-ranked T20I batter, the best of luck as he prepares to lead India against Australia. “Congrats @surya_14kumar. Go well buddy. Honour to lead the country,” Ashwin wrote on his Instagram story.
Out of the recent World Cup squad, only three players have been included in the Indian squad for this series – Prasidh Krishna, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav himself.
On the Australian side, Aaron Hardie has been added to the squad after veteran opener David Warner withdrew from the series.
The Indian squad for the series includes 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, and Mukesh Kumar.
The Australian squad consists of Matthew Wade (Captain), Aaron Hardie, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Kane Richardson, and Adam Zampa.
