The BCCI has announced India’s squad for the three-match ODI series in Australia, which begins on October 19 in Perth. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli remain in the team, while Shubman Gill takes over as ODI captain, marking the start of a new era for Indian cricket.
This will be India’s first ODI series in Australia since the 2020–21 tour, which they lost 1–2 under Virat Kohli’s captaincy. The squad, however, looks very different this time. Senior players such as Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, and Yuzvendra Chahal have been left out of the 15-member team.
Full squad for IND vs AUS 2025 ODI series:
Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal.
The newly minted 2025 Champions Trophy winners will now want to put their best foot forward to face the Aussies in their own backyard. Let’s examine important players who were left off the roster.
5. Shardul Thakur
During the 2020–21 series between India and Australia, Shardul Thakur played only one ODI but delivered an impressive spell of 3/51, including the wicket of Steve Smith. His performance helped India win the third match by 13 runs, securing a consolation victory.
Since the 2023 World Cup, Thakur hasn’t appeared in any ODIs, picking up only two wickets in three matches during that tournament. The selectors opted for pacers Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, and Prasidh Krishna instead.
4. Yuzvendra Chahal
His previous ODI series in Australia performed poorly in which Yuzvendra Chahal took 1/89 and 0/71 in the two matches that were lost by India. He remains playing ODIs with India but no last outing was made against New Zealand in January 2023 where he picked up 2/43.
Having lost out to Washington Sundar in terms of off-spin and batting resources coupled with the addition of Kuldeep Yadav to the list of contenders, Chahal has gone down the pecking order. What the selectors have actually disregarded is his performance in the white-ball cricket over the last two years.
3. Mohammed Shami
Despite finishing as India’s joint-highest wicket-taker (9 wickets) in the 2025 Champions Trophy, Mohammed Shami misses the ODI series. The veteran has battled knee injuries and played little domestic cricket since returning from an ankle issue after the 2023 World Cup.
At 35, a comeback will be tough. Selectors preferred younger fast bowlers like Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana, who must now rise to the challenge in upcoming games.
2. Ravindra Jadeja
Fans reacted strongly when the selectors left out Ravindra Jadeja from the ODI series in Australia. To fill his role, they chose a younger left-arm spinner who can also bat — Axar Patel — hoping he would bring similar balance to the team.
During India’s 2020–21 tour of Australia, Jadeja scored 115 runs and took one wicket in three ODIs. Despite that, Axar Patel earned a place in the current squad, even though he may not match Jadeja’s brilliance in fielding or his ability to change the course of a game.
1. Jasprit Bumrah
In order to cope with the upcoming ODI series, Jasprit Bumrah has been rested in the view of the upcoming 2025 Asia Cup and the current Test series against West Indies. In the 2020-21 Australian tour, he became India along with the highest wicket-taker.
Mohammed Siraj will be at the head of the pace attack in his absence alongside Arshdeep Singh. Prasidh Krishna or Harshit Rana could take the third seamer position because India wants to better its performance of 1-2 loss in Australia.
