Chahal reacts with cryptic message after being left out of Indian squad for Australia T20Is

Not included in India’s World Cup squad, Yuzvendra Chahal has once again found himself left out of the team’s upcoming five-match T20I series against Australia. Fans expected senior players like Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sanju Samson to see a return to the T20I squad against Australia, but the selectors seem to have made up their mind.

Immediately after the announcement, Chahal took to social media and posted a smiley emoticon. That was, in many ways, his reaction to this snub, one of disappointment and not understanding where his career was going.

Suryakumar Yadav has been named captain of the Indian team for the upcoming five-match Twenty20 series against Australia. The first match will be played in Visakhapatnam on November 23. VVS Laxman is expected to serve as the head coach for the series, which concludes in Bengaluru on December 3.

While most of the squad who played in Ireland have been retained, the exception is Jasprit Bumrah, who was captain during that series and is now rested. Prasidh Krishna, who replaced Hardik Pandya in the World Cup squad, is expected to feature in the series.

Axar Patel makes a comeback, taking the place of Ravichandran Ashwin, who replaced him during the ODI World Cup in India. Sanju Samson, who was part of India’s last T20I mission in Ireland, was left out with Ishan Kishan replacing him. Jitesh Sharma retains his place as the team’s second wicketkeeper – who can also be the team’s finisher.

The selectors met in Ahmedabad on Monday and there were discussions around appointing Shreyas Iyer as captain. However, they chose not to do so due to the heavy workload he had in the last three months after his return to the Asian Cup. Iyer will now join the team as vice-captain for the last two T20Is in Raipur and Bengaluru.

The Indian team: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (week), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna , Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.