While some players from March made the list, there’s a major overhaul in the present squad

India’s bags are packed for the Australia trip, where the Men in Blue will play three ODIs and five T20Is against the Aussies. Under coach Gautam Gambhir, the ODI team has witnessed major changes, with a core team being readied in preparation for the ICC World Cup 2027.

Ahead of the first game to be played at the Perth Stadium on October 19, let us take a look at how India’s present ODI squad stands compared to the ODI squad that defeated Australia in the first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy (CT) 2025, which was the last ODI fixture between the two cricketing giants.

India’s Champions Trophy Squad

Captained by Rohit Sharma, India’s Champions Trophy squad comprised Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Shami.

(Credit- RCB)

The Men in Blue lifted the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 by defeating New Zealand in the final and Australia in the semi-final and also topped the group stage by winning all three games, securing six points with a net run rate of 0.715.

In terms of individual performances, Varun and Shami scalped nine wickets each to become the tourney’s second and third highest wicket takers, whereas Shreyas Iyer was the second highest run getter of the tournament with 243 runs.

Out and new joiners

Four players missing from the Champions Trophy 2025 squad are Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, and Varun Chakravarthy. Moving on to players who have joined the squad for the upcoming ODI series are Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Mohammad Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, and Prasidh Krishna.

(Credit- NDTV)

The addition of these players supports Gautam Gambhir’s approach, which is heavily focused on grooming a team with more young players for the 2027 World Cup.

Retained from CT

Six players from the Champions Trophy 2025 squad have been retained for the Australia tour. These six players are Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, and Kuldeep Yadav. However, Rohit Sharma no longer serves as the team's captain, and his responsibilities have been handed over to Shubman Gill.

(Credit- NDTV)

Gautam Gambhir and new captain Shubman Gill will find the upcoming series crucial, as a win would silence critics who have been harsh on Gambhir and the BCCI's chief selectors. In case the team fails to achieve positive results, the pressure on Gill and other young lads will rise significantly.