India squad for New Zealand series and first two Tests against Australia announced: Big highlights and shocks

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Mumbai, Jan 13: The All-India Senior Selection Committee on Friday (January 13) announced the India squad for the upcoming white-ball home series against New Zealand and also the team for the first two Tests against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.

Hardik Pandya will be leading the Indian side in the T20Is while Rohit will be captaining Men in Blue in the ODI series. Like the Sri Lanka series, both Rohit and Virat Kohli have not been included.

Prithvi Shaw gets India call up

Young India batter Prithvi Shaw will also be making his comeback in the T20I side with the series. Shaw has been in sublime form lately. However, the talented right-handed batter from Mumbai didn't get a place in the Test team.

Sanju Samson ignored again

KL Rahul and Axar Patel were unavailable for selection for the white-ball series due to family commitments. In Rahul's absence, KS Bharat has been included in the ODI side as the second wicketkeeper after Ishan Kishan, while Sanju Samson has been ignored. The Kerala wicketkeeper-batter - who was part of the side on the New Zealand tour suddenly finds himself out of favour and no communication has been made on why he's not included in the white-ball side.

The limited-overs series against New Zealand comprises three ODIs and as many T20Is. The ODI series starts on January 18 while the T20I series will begin on January 27.

India's ODI squad against New Zealand: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (wk), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik.

India's T20I squad against New Zealand: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Suryakumar Yadav (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Prithvi Shaw, Mukesh Kumar.

India's Test Squad vs Australia

The Test side for the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was also announced where wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan got a maiden red-ball cricket call-up. Rishabh Pant who is the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter is going to be out of action for the next five-six months due to his road accident last month.

Ravindra Jadeja likely to return

A call on all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja - who has not been included in the New Zealand home series - in the Test squad is subject to fitness. The left-handed batter's return comes as a major boost to the team while there was no update shared on Jasprit Bumrah - who was first included in the ODI squad for the Sri Lanka series but was later ruled out as he wasn't completely fit.

Surya, Ishan get Test call-ups

Star T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav - who is ranked number one in the T20Is - has also been included in the Test squad. The Mumbaikar, therefore, becomes a part of all three formats.

Sarfaraz Khan gets the snub, again

Meanwhile, talented Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan who has been knocking at the doors of the Test side by scoring heavily in the domestic circuit in the red-ball format once again seems to have failed to impress the selectors.

The tour will kickstart on February 9 in Nagpur and this will also be the last edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy which will be a 4-match Test series feature.

India's Test squad for the first two Tests against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.