The All India Senior Men's Selection Committee has announced Suryakumar Yadav as captain in the absence of an injured Hardik Pandya to lead India's 15-member squad in the five-match T20I series to be played against Australia starting Thursday, November 23. The selection committee led by the chief selector Ajit Agarkar picked a strong squad that mainly comprises players who won India the Asiad gold in the men's cricket competition.
Notably, Shreyas Iyer will join the team for the last two matches slated to be played in Raipur and Bengaluru as the vice-captain of the unit. Bowling allrounder Axar Patel has been added to the squad after he missed out on the opportunity to represent India during the World Cup 2023 with a left quadriceps strain.
Ruturaj Gaikwad has been named the vice-captain of the side for the first three games. Gaikwad had impressed everyone with his leadership ability during India's Asian Games campaign in Hangzhou, China and will be seen sharing his inputs with Suryakumar in the series.
Apart from the skipper Suryakumar, Shreyas, and Ishan Kishan, pacer Prasidh Krishna is the fourth player who was a part of India's 2023 ODI World Cup campaign and will be seen in action during the home series against the Kangaroos.
Meanwhile, Hardik is nursing his right ankle injury that he sustained during India's World Cup game against Bangladesh while playing at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on October 19.
India's 15-member squad for Australia series:
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
India vs Australia T20I series schedule:
| Date | Match | Venue |
| November 23 | 1st T20I | Visakhapatnam |
| November 26 | 2nd T20I | Thiruvananthapuram |
| November 28 | 3rd T20I | Guwahati |
| December 1 | 4th T20I | Raipur |
| December 3 | 5th T20I | Bengaluru |
