India name squads for Australia tour

India have named a strong 18-player squad for their Test series against Australia this summer, while former captain MS Dhoni will not be seen during the Twenty20 series against the Aussies.

Experienced batter Rohit Sharma has won a recall to the Test squad after he was overlooked for the recent series against the West Indies, while there is no room for Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina.

Instead, India will rely on exciting teenager Prithvi Shaw at the top of their batting order, with Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane expected to provide the support to in-form skipper Virat Kohli.

There were few surprises in the bowlers India selected, with experienced spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja selected alongside slow left-armer Kuldeep Yadav.

Umesh Yadav headlines a seam attack that includes Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.

Kohli was named captain for the three-game T20 series against Australia, with Rohit selected as his vice-captain.

There was no room for Dhoni, however, who will sit out T20 series' against both the West Indies and Australia during November.

The experienced Dhoni retired from Test cricket following the Boxing Day Test against Australia in 2014, but has featured consistently for India in one-day and T20 cricket ever since.

MSK Prasad didn't rule out a return for Dhoni in future, with India's chief selector claiming "it is not the end of Dhoni in T20Is".

Australia will play four Test matches against India, with the first five-day contest commencing in Adelaide on Thursday December 6.

The two nations will first contest three Twenty20 matches, with the Gabba in Brisbane hosting the opening game on Wednesday November 21.

India Test squad: Virat Kohli (C), M Vijay, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Parthiv Patel, Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

India Twenty20 squad: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed

India Tour of Australia 2018-19

Gillette T20s v India

November 21: The Gabba

November 23: MCG

November 25: SCG

Domain Tests v India

December 6-10: Adelaide Oval

December 14-18: Perth Stadium

December 26-30: MCG

January 3-7: SCG

Gillette ODI Series v India

January 12: SCG (D/N)

January 15: Adelaide Oval (D/N)

January 18: MCG (D/N)