India batsman Manish Pandey has been excluded from the twelve for the first T20 International against Australia, scheduled to be played in Brisbane on 21 November. Captain Virat Kohli will be back in action after skipping the T20I series against West Indies at home.
The other cricketers who have been left out for the opening tie of the three-match series are Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar and Umesh Yadav.
The T20I series is the first rubber in India’s all-important tour Down Under which will also feature four Tests, followed by three One Day Internationals.
The touring side has won its previous seven T20I series dating back to November 2017, and its last defeat in the format was against West Indies in July last year. Not to mention, on their last visit here, the Men in Blue won the T20I series 3-0.
Team India for 1st T20I vs Australia
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal
Dinesh Karthik has been retained in the team, but it is Rishabh Pant who will be donning the keeping gloves.
KL Rahul too has kept his place in the team, despite his current form which is nothing to write home about. He managed only 16, 26 not out and 17 against the West Indies in the recent T20I series. In England, the skipper Kohli had batted at number four, allowing KL Rahul to bat at number three in light of his stupendous form in the 2018 Indian Premier League.
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