The Indian squad comprising of 28 cricketers and supporting staff have landed in Australia on November 12th for a two-month long tour. The tour Down Under will entail 3 ODIs (50-over One-day Internationals), 3 T20Is and 4 Test matches. The dates for the matches commencing November-end have been announced and the itinerary is as follows:
| 1st ODI | 27 November | Sydney |
| 2nd ODI | 29 November | Sydney |
| 3rd ODI | 2 December | Canberra |
| 1st T20I | 6 December | Canberra |
| 2nd T20I | 4 December | Sydney |
| 3rd T20I | 8 December | Sydney |
| 1st Test | 17-21 December | Adelaide Oval (Day-Night fixture) |
| 2nd Test | 26-30 December | Melbourne |
| 3rd Test | 7-11 January | Sydney |
| 4th Test | 15-19 January | Brisbane |
The team has been instantly put under a 14-day quarantine as required by the Australian Government. The itinerary includes a Day/Night Test in Adelaide making it Team India’s first such fixture away from home.
The BCCI (Board of Cricket Control) selection committee announced a few last-minute changes in the squad on the eve of the teams’ departure to Australia. The revised squad looks as follows:
T20I squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (vice-captain and wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, T.Natarajan.
ODI squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (vice-captain & wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper).
India Test squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohammad Siraj.
Kohli’s paternity leave
Skipper Virat Kohli informed the BCCI of his plans to return to India after the 1st Test at Adelaide to welcome the expected arrival of new-born baby and a paternity leave was duly granted. Ajinka Rahane is expected to take over as skipper of the side from the second Test onwards.
Rohit Sharma included in the Test Squad
The successful Mumbai India (MI) skipper who was initially left out for Australia tour altogether, was able to convince selectors that he has been recovering fast from his injuries and will be fit enough to make the trip Down Under. Rohit as a result features in the Test squad having being rested for the ODIs and T20 fixtures.
Sanju Samson makes it to the ODI squad
The swashbuckling Rajasthan Royals wicket-keeper was part of the T20I squad only but has now been added to the ODI side as well.
Quickie Ishant Sharma, a potential inclusion in the Test squad
Sharma, who was ruled out of the IPL 2020 owing to a tear in the abdomen muscle, is currently undergoing a rehab at the National Cricket Academy(NDA), Bengaluru. There’s every likelihood that he will be added to the Test squad on attaining complete match fitness given his impressive history of overseas performances.
Leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy ruled out
A shoulder injury has ruled Chakravarthy out of the T20I series. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinner who was initially included in the T20 squad after his impressive show in the recently held IPL 2020 will now make way for left-arm pacer T. Natarajan. Natajan impressed with his death-over spells for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2020 and has 38 T20 career wickets from an equal number of games with figures of 3/4 being his best.
