Jadeja, Shami included in India's squad for Australia; Raina, Binny miss out
Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja were all included in India’s ODI and T20 squad for Australia while Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra made a comeback into the T20 side. Suresh Raina and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who both missed out on the ODI side, made it for the T20 squad.
The rest of the squad was very much as expected, with MS Dhoni leading the side, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan as openers, with Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane making up the rest of the batting order.
Shami, who hasn’t played an international match since finishing the 2015 World Cup as India’s second highest wicket-taker, will take his place in the squad, alongside Jadeja and as, who also make their comeback into the ODI side.
Since making his ODI debut in 2013, Shami has taken 87 wickets in 47 ODIs at an average of 24.8 and economy rate of 5.5 But after an impressive World Cup, he underwent surgery and has only just come back to competitive cricket in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he has three wickets in two games.
Jadeja, who was dropped for the last two ODI series against Zimbabwe and South Africa returns to the side after his impressive performance in the recently-concluded Test series and the ongoing Vijay Hazare trophy where he averages over 40 with the bat and has picked up 6 wickets in four matches.
With India unlikely to play four fast bowlers, the all-rounder is an ideal option to have, as he would give the side a lot more balance, thanks to his ability to both hit a long ball and keep things quiet with the ball.
Ishant Sharma, who hasn’t played an ODI for India since January 2015, but has had a good season with the ball as India’s pace spearhead was also included in the squad, while there were surprise call-ups for Rishi Dhawan and Brainder Sran in the ODI squad.
The T20 squad saw Harbhajan Singh replacing Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya being picked, along with the returning Yuvraj Singh, who will be playing his first game for India since April 2014.
India will play Australia in five ODIs and three T20Is starting from January 12, before returning home in time for the Asia Cup, to be held in Bangladesh.
ODI Squad: MS Dhoni (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Ajinkya Rahane, Gurukeerat Mann, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Rishi Dhawan, Brainder Sran.
T20 Squad: MS Dhoni (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Harbhajan Singh, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra.