India Squad for Australia / He won the Champions Trophy but is now out of the Indian team

India Squad for Australia: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Indian ODI and T20I squads for the tour of Australia on Saturday, October 4, 2025. Team India will play three ODI and T20I matches on this tour. Following the squad announcement, the focus of discussion was the return of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to ODI cricket, as well as the appointment of Shubman Gill as the new captain. However, the omission of three key players—Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, and Varun Chakravarthy—from the squad, who played key roles in India's Champions Trophy 2025 victory, has surprised everyone.

Shubman Gill given captaincy, Rohit faces questions

The decision to replace Rohit Sharma, who led India to the Champions Trophy 2025, with Shubman Gill as the ODI captain was a surprising one. While Rohit will be part of the team for the three-match ODI series starting October 19, his removal from the captaincy raises questions about his future. Gill has been given the captaincy of the ODI team for the first time, and this decision points to the BCCI's future strategy.

Mohammed Shami's omission is surprising.

Mohammed Shami, India's most successful bowler in the Champions Trophy 2025, was not included in the ODI squad. Shami took 9 wickets in the tournament, including 3 crucial wickets in the semi-final, which helped India reach the final. His fitness was cited as a reason for the recent Test series in England, but this time the BCCI did not provide a clear reason for his exclusion. This decision is surprising given Shami's experience and his usefulness on Australia's fast pitches.

Varun Chakravarthy also excluded from ODIs, retained in T20Is

Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who played a key role in India's victory in the Champions Trophy with 9 wickets along with Shami, was also not included in the ODI squad. His economical bowling (2 wickets each) in the semi-final and final strengthened India's position. However, Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar did not comment on this. The only relief is that Varun will remain part of the Indian squad for the T20 series.

Why was Jadeja dropped?

The omission of star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was also a major decision. Jadeja had an average performance in the Champions Trophy, taking five wickets and scoring 50 runs with the bat. However, his impressive batting in recent Test matches against England and the West Indies strengthened his claim. Explaining the reason for Jadeja's omission, Agarkar said that there would not be a need for many spinners on Australian pitches. With Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, it was not considered necessary to include a third left-arm spinner. However, Agarkar clarified that Jadeja will remain a part of the ODI plans in the future.

• ODI Squad for Australia Tour
• Captain: Shubman Gill
• Players: 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, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal