For the five-Test tour of Australia that begins on November 22, India has selected three uncapped players in their squad of 18: all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, fast bowler Harshit Rana, and opener Abhimanyu Easwaran.
Both wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav and fast bowler Mohammed Shami were kept off the roster due to a “chronic left groin issue” and the fact that Shami hasn’t fully recovered from his ankle surgery earlier this year. The travelling reserves include Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini, and Mukesh Kumar. Bumrah is his vice-captain, and Rohit Sharma is the team’s captain. However, Abhimanyu, 29, is expected to make his Test debut on the tour as Rohit is expected to miss one of the first two Tests due to personal reasons.
He has been in outstanding form this season, scoring two hundreds in the Duleep Trophy, a century in the Irani Trophy, and a Ranji Trophy. He was a member of India’s Test team once, in Bangladesh in 2022. Washington Sundar, who made his Test debut after more than three years with a ten-wicket haul against New Zealand in Pune, is one of the three spin all-rounders in the squad along with R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
The lone seam-bowling all-rounder in the Australian team is 21-year-old Reddy. Currently a reserve in India’s Test squad for the home series against New Zealand, he made his T20I debut against Bangladesh earlier this month. India’s selectors view him as a promising all-round player who might get better with exposure and experience.
In addition to Bumrah, the other fast bowlers in the team are Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh, and Rana. 22-year-old Rana has only played nine first-class games, while Prasidh, who has played two Test matches in the past, has just resumed playing after overcoming a severe back ailment.
Rana, who plays for Delhi, has 36 wickets at an average of 24.75 in first-class cricket and claimed two four-wicket hauls for India D in the September Duleep Trophy. India lacks a left-arm fast in their starting lineup with Khaleel in the reserves and Yash Dayal out.
The Indian team for the Australia tour consists of Rohit Sharma (capt), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Washington Sundar.