PremiumSurya Kumar Yadav named captain for India v Australia T20 series, VVS Laxman to replace Rahul Dravid
The T20 series against Australia will begin in Vizag on November 23 and conclude in Bengaluru on December 3, with Trivandrum, Guwahati and Nagpur also part of the list of venues.
Last Updated: 11.23 PM, Nov 20, 2023
Surya Kumar Yadav has landed a major role in the upcoming T20 series against Australia despite the very recent failure in the CWC 2023 finals. The Mumbai-born cricketer will captain Team India in the five-match series which is set to get underway on November 23 in Vizag.
Another major development in the same vein comes in the form of VVS Laxman's appointment as the head coach of the team. The former Indian batter has been serving as the director of the National Cricket Academy or the NCA since 2021 and will take over the reins from Rahul Dravid.
Surya Kumar Yadav will have Ruturaj Gaikwad as his deputy or vice-captain in the upcoming series with the squad also including Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar.
Prasidh Krishna, who replaced the injured Hardik Pandya in World Cup 2023, too, is part of the squad and so are spinners Washington Sundar and Axar Patel. Jasprit Bumrah, who led Team India in Ireland, has been rested along with Shreyas Iyer following the World Cup stint.
Sanju Samson, a highly-favoured cricketer who was snubbed by selectors for both the Asia Cup and the mega World Cup event, has not been picked for the Australia T20 series, much to the dismay of his fans.
Will VVS Laxman mark the beginning of a potentially long tenure with this series? The answer to that remains unclear at the moment but his appointment does not come as a surprise. Rahul Dravid, on the other hand, recently spoke about taking some time out to reflect upon his future as Team India coach but one might see him slowly making way for his former team-mate for the top role.
The T20 series will begin in Vizag on November 23 and conclude in Bengaluru on December 3, with Trivandrum, Guwahati and Nagpur also part of the list of venues.