3 players who were unlucky to miss out on India's squad for the Australia T20I series ft. Yashasvi Jaiswal

After suffering a 2-1 defeat in the three-match ODI series against Australia, India's attention will shift to the shortest format. The Men in Blue will face off against the hosts in five T20Is.

The T20 World Cup is on the horizon, and the selectors seem to have finalized their core for the marquee tournament. As a result, changes in the squad weren't to be expected, although it can be argued that a few deserving performers should've been picked nevertheless.

India’s T20I squad for the Australia tour: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.

On that note, here are three players who were unlucky to miss out on India's squad for the Australia T20I series.

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#3 Riyan Parag

Sri Lanka v India - Source: Getty

Throughout the 2025 Asia Cup, India's middle order underwhelmed. Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube were often batting out of position and struggled against both pace and spin at times.

In the event of that, Riyan Parag was expected to compete with the aforementioned trio for a spot in the squad. Capable of donning a number of roles in the middle order, Parag has been in exceptional form of late. However, Samson, Tilak and Dube have done enough to keep their places.

Parag can consider himself unlucky to not be in contention even though India have a vacancy with his name on it.

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#2 Yashasvi Jaiswal

Ireland v India - 1st Men's T20 International - Source: Getty

As India won the Asia Cup, Shubman Gill didn't have a huge role to play. The opening batter wasn't at his best at the top of the order, often losing his wicket inside the powerplay.

Yashasvi Jaiswal has barely put a foot wrong in T20Is and is undoubtedly one of India's best options in the shortest format. It's certainly arguable that he needs to be picked in the squad - in fact, even if he were to replace Gill, that would be wholly understandable.

Capable of taking on both pace and spin, Jaiswal simply must feature in the side. It's a massive surprise that he hasn't been picked for the Australia T20Is.

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#1 Prasidh Krishna

India v Australia - T20I Series: Game 1 - Source: Getty

India have gone in with the same fast bowlers who featured in the 2025 Asia Cup. Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana have been picked to tour Australia.

However, the Men in Blue look a bit thin in that department, particularly with Hardik Pandya out. For a series in Australia, they might need more pace resources, especially over the course of five matches.

Prasidh, who was the Purple Cap winner in IPL 2025, was a serious contender. The tall fast bowler could be a useful weapon through the middle overs and can consider himself unfortunate to have missed out on the squad.