The All-India Senior Selection Committee of the BCCI on later Friday night announced the 17-member squad for the impending Border-Gavaskar series at home against Australia. The series is set to begin from February 9 onwards in Nagpur and will be both the team’s final contest in the ongoing World Test Championship cycle. With the squad announcement, BCCI also confirmed the end of the traditional four-Test series as part of Border-Gavaskar series as India and Australia brace for a new-look contest.

“This will also be the last edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy which will be a 4-match Test series feature,” read the statement from BCCI as the change in Border-Gavaskar series from a four-match contest to five Tests has long been in talk.

Border-Gavaskar trophy has been a four-Test series since 2003/04 when India had toured Australia, with 2010/11 contest being the only anomaly as it was a two-Test contest. The last time five Tests were played in a series was back in 1991/92.

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Earlier in August last year, ICC had released the Men’s FTP cycle for 2023-27 which includes two sets of five-match series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the upcoming cycles of the ICC World Test Championship. According to the FTP, the Aussies will host India for the first five-match Border-Gavaskar series in the 2023-25 cycle of the WTC while a reciprocal tour is set to be played in the 2025-27 cycle.

Talking about the series, India have called up Ishan Kishan as Rishabh Pant’s replacement with KS Bharat likely to be first-choice wicketkeeper while Suryakumar Yadav has been added to the squad as well. Jasprit Bumrah will remain absent leaving Jaydev Unadkat with yet another opportunity. Meanwhile, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s inclusion in the team is “subject to fitness”.