Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s return to competitive cricket has been delayed further as the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee on Sunday unveiled the India A squad for the upcoming one-day series against Australia A. The home team will play three matches, with all fixtures scheduled at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.
The three games will take place on September 30, October 3, and October 5, 2025.
Kohli and Rohit, who have both been out of action since the IPL 2025 season earlier this year, were speculated to play the India A matches to warm up for their return to international cricket in the tour of Australia, where India are slated to play three ODI matches. The three games will be played later in October this year.
However, neither of the senior batters was named in the India A squad announced on Sunday. The BCCI’s senior men’s Selection Committee named a 13-member India A squad for the first one-day game, with Rajat Patidar as the captain.
For the last two matches, they named a 15-member squad, which included fresh inclusions: Tilak Varma, Abhishek Sharma, Harshit Rana, and Arshdeep Singh, with the former named as the captain, while Patidar will act as his deputy. Meanwhile, Priyansh Arya and Simarjeet Singh will not be part of the second and third one-day matches.
India A squad for the 1st one-day match: Rajat Patidar (Captain), Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, Suryansh Shedge, Vipraj Nigam, Nishant Sindhu, Gurjapneet Singh, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Porel (WK), Priyansh Arya, Simarjeet Singh.
India A squad for 2nd and 3rd one-day: Tilak Varma (Captain), Rajat Patidar (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, Suryansh Shedge, Vipraj Nigam, Nishant Sindhu, Gurjapneet Singh, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Porel (WK), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh.
Earlier this week, the Times of India had reported that Kohli and Rohit might miss the India A games as the selection committee is unlikely to force them to play against the Aussie side. A BCCI official confirmed that they will only take part in the matches if they feel they need some game time ahead of the tour, before adding that they are both available for selection for the contest against Australia.
“See, it’s highly unlikely that they will play the three India A games. No call has been taken on that and it will not be forced upon them either. Only if they need some game time, you could see them play one or even two games before the Australia ODIs. But nothing has been finalised yet. They are very much fit and available for the Australia ODIs,” a senior BCCI official told TimesofIndia.com.
Both Kohli and Rohit underwent the mandatory pre-season fitness test. Rohit travelled to BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru for the test, while Kohli had it conducted in London.
It is yet to be seen if the senior duo gets picked for the Australia tour. It was earlier speculated that the series might be their final appearance in international cricket, although they both have yet to address the rumours. Rohit and Kohli had both retired from T20Is last year in June and drew curtains on their Test career earlier this year in May.