India name squads for Australia Test tour and South Africa T20Is

India have named a strong 18-member squad for the ICC World Test Championship series against Australia later this year.

Spinner Kuldeep Yadav is a notable absentee with him referred to the BCCI Centre of Excellence for a chronic left groin issue. The spin stocks, though, are bolstered by Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Axar Patel misses out from the touring party.

The 18-member squad also boasts of an array of pacers led by vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah. There are also three reserve pacers named in the squad.

All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy and opener Abhimanyu Easwaran are notable additions to the squad while pacers Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana also feature.

The Australia Test series starts on November 22 in Perth and will be a five-match series running into early 2025.

The series carries crucial weightage for the ICC World Test Championship with India and Australia currently occupying the two top positions.

ICC World Test Championship Standings

India Test squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.

Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed

Watch the best of Rohit Sharma from the Men's T20 World Cup 2024

India also named their T20I squad for the matches against South Africa in November. Led by Suryakumar Yadav, the squad features some familiar names with maiden call-ups for Ramandeep Singh and Vijaykumar Vyshak.

Mayank Yadav and Shivam Dube were not available for selection owing to injuries while Riyan Parag, like Kuldeep, was sent to the BCCI Centre of Excellence for a chronic right shoulder injury.
The South Africa series begins on November 8 in Durban with matches until 15 November.**

India’s T20I squad against South Africa: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.