After the culmination of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, India will host Australia in a five-match T20I series from November 23 to December 3.

For the series, the selectors are likely to name Suryakumar Yadav as captain as Hardik Pandya is set to be out of action for an indefinite period due to an ankle injury. The Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel is expected to unveil the squad by Tuesday (November 21).

According to a report published in The Indian Express, most of India's World Cup squad members will be rested for the T20I series.

A second-string squad, led by Suryakumar, will be named to face the Aussies, who will also miss the services of star players like Pat Cummins, Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Starc.

Earlier this month, Hardik Pandya was ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup 2023 after he failed to recover from an ankle injury sustained during the league-stage match against Bangladesh. Prasidh Krishna was named his replacement in the Indian World Cup squad.

As per the report, Hardik's injury is likely to keep him out of action for some more time. The all-rounder will most probably miss the upcoming South Africa tour as well.

In Hardik's absence, Ruturaj Gaikwad was also a contender for the captaincy. Gaikwad, who led India to a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games last month, is certain to be a part of the squad but with the selectors ready to pick Surya, the choice for captaincy was obvious.

Notably, Surya has been assisting Hardik as vice-captain in the shortest format since the beginning of this year. The dashing right-hander also holds the No. 1 position in the ICC Men’s T20I Rankings for batters.

Besides Surya, Ishan Kishan, Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur are the three other World Cup squad members likely to be a part of Australia T20Is.

The pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj is set to take a break. In their absence, Krishna will spearhead the pace attack, also likely to feature Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik and Avesh Khan in the Australia series.

Yuzvendra Chahal is likely to lead the spin department alongside Ravi Bishnoi. All-rounders Shahbaz Ahmed and Akshar Patel are likely to appear in the squad in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja.

The likes of Tilak Varma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh are more or less confirmed to retain their spots in the T20I squad while Sanju Samson will also make a comeback.

(The Indian Express Inputs)