IND vs AUS | Varun Chakravarthy handed maiden call-up by selectors for T20Is

Once the Indian Premier League is over, the squad will travel to Australia to kick-start the tour that will go on for almost two months. With the first T20 scheduled in Sydney on November 26, the BCCI announced a squad, keeping the three series in mind with the red and pink-ball team practicing, with most of the white-ball specialists taking part in the T20Is.

Virat Kohli will be leading the shortest format side with heavy run-scorers in the current IPL - KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan - being part of the side. However, Rohit Sharma has not been named in the squad and has been kept as a standby, subject to fitness. 

The biggest news from the selection room, however, has come in the form of the selection of KKR's Varun Chakravarthy. The Tamil Nadu spinner, who during the weekend claimed the first 5-wicket haul of IPL 2020, has been handed a shock call-up on the back of stunning performances in pressure situations. However, while it was delight for Varun, it was sorrow for both Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant, who have been overlooked for the T20Is. While Pant has under-performed this season, SKY has been one of the most prolific No.3s and the decision is bound to raise a few eyebrows. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson, who played a couple of T20Is in the New Zealand tour, has been named on the back of his promising showing in the ongoing IPL edition. 

Mayank Agarwal, who has been exceptional with the bat, has also received a call-up, while Washington Sundar has also been picked by the selectors. KL Rahul has been named the vice-skipper of the team.

The BCCI have also confirmed that four additional bowlers - Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kartik Tyagi, Ishan Porel and T. Natarajan - will travel with the Indian contingent.

Team India T20I squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (vice-captain and wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy