3 players who were unlucky to miss out on India's squad for the Australia ODI series ft. Riyan Parag

The BCCI recently announced India's squads for the upcoming tour of Australia. The Men in Blue will play three ODIs and five T20Is Down Under, with the 50-over series commencing on Sunday, October 19.

Shubman Gill will lead India in the ODI format, having replaced Rohit Sharma at the helm, while Shreyas Iyer will be his deputy. Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah are missing from the squad, but otherwise, the visitors will have a strong contingent to choose from.

India’s ODI squad for the Australia tour: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal.

At the same time, however, a few names who have been in and around the ODI setup haven't made the grade. On that note, here are three players who were unlucky to miss out on India's squad for the Australia ODI series.

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#3 Riyan Parag

Sri Lanka v India - Source: Getty

Riyan Parag may not have made a statement in international cricket so far, but there are no doubts over his immense potential. The young all-rounder has long been earmarked as one for the future, and India would've done well to give him a real shot at making a middle-order role his own Down Under.

India have virtually no batting backups in the middle order. Their top-order batters aren't known for rolling their arms over as well, making Parag's talents important to the team's long-term cause. Capable of countering both pace and spin, as well as bowling a bit of the latter, the 23-year-old needs to enter the white-ball fray soon.

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#2 Ravindra Jadeja

India v New Zealand: Final - ICC Champions Trophy 2025 - Source: Getty

Are India moving on from Ravindra Jadeja in ODIs? The left-arm spinner has been at the top of his game with the ball in hand, and although his batting isn't what it once was, he is one of the few finishing options at the team's disposal.

Jadeja was important to India's campaigns in the 2023 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy, and there has been no official word on why he isn't part of the Australia tour. He can certainly consider himself unlucky to miss out, with Axar Patel not doing enough in the format to warrant being higher in the pecking order.

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#1 Varun Chakaravarthy

India v New Zealand: Final - ICC Champions Trophy 2025 - Source: Getty

Another key contributor to India's Champions Trophy win, Varun Chakaravarthy has gone from strength to strength in recent times. The spinner has missed out on the ODI squad for the Australia tour, although he is part of the T20I setup.

Varun might not have a place to feature in the XI alongside Kuldeep Yadav, but India could use a bowler of his caliber in the 50-over format. Australia have tons of pace hitters, but they aren't always adept at countering wrist-spin.

Varun, who has been in sensational form, would've been able to get high bounce from his overspin Down Under. Either way, it's unfortunate that he finds himself out of the ODI side despite not doing much wrong lately.