India have opted to bench Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Washington Sundar and Umesh Yadav for the first T20I against Australia that will take place on Wednesday at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Virat Kohli is back to lead the team after having skipped the T20I series against West Indies. India’s XII, named on the eve of the game, included three spin-bowling options. Krunal Pandya, by virtue of his all-round skills, could get the nod in the XI at the expense of one of the wristspin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. India are likely to have a three-man pace attack comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed.
India’s XI (possible): 1 Rohit Sharma (vice-capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 KL Rahul, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Dinesh Karthik, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav/Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Khaleel Ahmed.