India will lock horns with Australia in the first T20I of the three-match series on Wednesday. On the eve of the match, the Indian team management confirmed the 12-member squad and according to that, Manish Pandey failed to make a cut in the playing XI as he made way for the skipper Virat Kohli, who missed the home T20I series against West Indies. He also took back the leadership charge from his deputy, Rohit Sharma.
Parat from the there were some automatic choices in the 12-man squad like, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah. As per the list, Rishabh Pant has been named as wicket-keeper, means that Dinesh Karthik will not keep the wickets.
However, ahead of the Windies series, a similar thing was mentioned but Karthik sat behind the stumps in the series against West Indies. In this series though, such a thing is unlikely to happen as Karthik might not also get to play all the three games. He is not a part of the ODI set-up at present as the team management is supporting Rishabh for the job going into the 2019 World Cup.
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There is no place for Washington Sundar in the 12-member squad. Krunal Pandya is the sole all-rounder and is also a confirmed selection. Either of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal will play as Krunal, apart from batting, also bowls his complete four overs. It can be an opportunity for the southpaw to do well and also make a case for selection for ODIs.
We've announced our 12 for the 1st T20I against Australia at The Gabba #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/c6boLtieGf
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 20, 2018
All the three pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed are expected to be included in the playing XI. The team management is looking to make Khaleel as the third pacer for the world cup and more the number of international games he will play, more it will have chances to test out the rookie.
India’s 12-member squad for 1st T20I:
Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal.
