India’s T20I players, including captain Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube, left for Australia on Thursday ahead of the five-match series against the hosts. SKY shared a picture from the airport with teammates before departure.

Seven members of the squad, including vice-captain Shubman Gill, are already in Australia for the ongoing three-match ODI series against world champions Australia. This will be the first T20I meeting between India and Australia since last year’s World Cup Super 8 match. India won that match by 24 runs on their way to claiming the title.

The T20I squad also includes Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Jitesh Sharma, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar. Abhishek Sharma was player of the tournament in the Asia Cup earlier this year. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested for the ODI leg, returns for the T20I series.

The five-match T20I series between India and Australia will begin on October 29 with the first match at Manuka Oval in Canberra. The second T20I will be played on October 31 at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, followed by the third on November 2 at Bellerive Oval in Hobart. The fourth match is scheduled for November 6 at Bill Pippel Oval in Gold Coast, and the series will conclude on November 8 at The Gabba in Brisbane.