Border-Gavaskar Trophy: On Friday, the BCCI revealed the team for the much anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which will begin play on November 22.

The opening game of India’s five-match Test series visit to Australia is set to take place in Perth.

Along with the announcement of a gigantic 18-man team, three traveling reserves were also picked.

The team, captained by Rohit Sharma, will try to win three straight Test series in Australia.

Prasidh Krishna was also summoned back, while players like Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana were called up for their first Test match.

Star batsman KL Rahul also kept his spot despite harsh criticism.

Washington Sundar, who was recruited to India’s team before to the current second Test match against New Zealand, and Abhimanyu Easwaran.

Interestingly, however, a few individuals were left off of the roster for the crucial trip.

India’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy squad: Players that were left off

Ruturaj Gaikwad: Ruturaj Gaikwad was unable to go to Australia with the senior team. He has been selected as India A’s captain for the visit to Australia, however.

After he just got a hundred against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, there were a lot of rumors about whether he would be selected.

Kuldeep Yadav: Having played for India in their past two Test series victories in Australia, Kuldeep will also not be going there.

BCCI confirmed the reason for his removal: “KKuldeep Yadav was unavailable for selection for the tour of Australia since he has been referred to the BCCI Centre of Excellence after the end of the ongoing Test series against New Zealand for long-term resolution of his chronic left groin issue.”

He was left out of India’s starting lineup for the Pune second Test match against New Zealand.

Axar Patel: After making significant contributions in every area over the previous three months, the great all-rounder was a strong candidate to go to Australia.

He was benched against New Zealand and missed both of the Test matches against Bangladesh.

Prior to him, Washington Sundar was added to India’s Test team for the tour of Australia.

Shreyas Iyer: Earlier this year, during the series against England, Shreyas played his last Test match for India.

Because of Sarfaraz Khan’s remarkable ascent in the middle order, the selectors chose to reward him while keeping KL Rahul.

Shreyas Iyer captained India D in the Duleep Trophy and recently made a century against Maharashtra.

Mohammed Shami: As he recovers from his injury and is unable to play in the Australia series, Shami’s battle against time might not end well.

Whether the renowned pacer would reach full fitness in time was a topic of much discussion. Last year, Shami participated in the ODI World Cup for India.

Other names that will not play in the India vs. Australia Test series include Ishan Kishan, Ajinkya Rahane, and Cheteshwar Pujara.

Rahane and Pujara both contributed significantly to India’s victories in the previous two Test series in Australia. But for some time now, the three have been unreliable.

Rahane and Pujara are participating in the Ranji Trophy 2024–25, while Kishan has been selected for the India A team’s trip to Australia.