India names 15-man squad for Australia T20Is

Shikhar Dhawan, Ashish Nehra and Dinesh Karthik made a return to the Indian Twenty20 International side for the three-match series against Australia, with the selectors including them in a 15-man squad named on Sunday, shortly after India’s One-Day International team had sealed a 4-1 triumph against Australia, and with it a return to the No.1 ranking.

While Karthik last appeared in a T20I for India against Windies in July, Nehra is back after a seven-month break triggered by groin and hamstring injuries he suffered since India's T20I series against England in February. MS Dhoni was named the designated wicketkeeper, but Karthik is of course a ‘keeper too, though he has played as only a batsman on occasions.

Dhawan missed out on the T20I series in Sri Lanka to be with his ailing mother, and recently skipped the One-Day International series against Australia because of another family emergency, where his wife was going through a surgery.

Ajinkya Rahane, who made four half-centuries in the ODI series, and Shardul Thakur, who were both part of the T20I squad that beat Sri Lanka in a one-off contest by seven wickets last month, were not considered for this series.

The team, led by Virat Kohli, will take on Australia in three matches, the first of which is scheduled in Ranchi on October 7. Guwahati and Hyderabad will host the remaining two encounters on October 10 and 13 respectively.

Apart from Dhoni and Karthik, KL Rahul and Kedar Jadhav can also don the gloves if needed.

Hardik Pandya, who earned the player of the series award in India’s ODI series win, is the only allrounder in the side, complementing the pace attack spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Nehra. Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel make up the spin-bowling choices for Kohli.

Rohit Sharma and Dhawan are expected to take up the opening responsibilities, while Kohli has several middle order options to choose from, apart from himself, in Rahul, Manish Pandey, Jadhav, Karthik and Dhoni.

Squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma (vice-capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Axar Patel.