A lot of familiar faces like Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, David Warner, Aaron Finch, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammad Shami will be seen in action once again as India take on Australia in a three-match ODI and T20I series, followed by four Tests as well. However, there are some players who have been called up into the respective squads for the first time and thus will be eager to make an impression in the opportunities they get. Here we take a look at those players.
Thangarasu Natarajan
He was mainly picked as a backup bowler when the squad for Australia tour was announced at first. But Varun Chakravarthy's injury opened up a slot in the T20I side and that was when Natarajan was added to the original squad. The left-arm seamer was probably Hyderabad's best bowler after Rashid Khan in the recently concluded Indian T20 League. Natarajan picked up 16 wickets in as many games during the season and impressed everyone with his ability to bowl yorkers in the death overs.
India haven't had much success with left-arm seamers ever since Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra's retirement. The likes of Jaydev Unadkat, Barinder Sran and Khaleel Ahmed have had their opportunities but they haven't looked cut out for international cricket considering how they have fared. Natarajan, though, looks like a very promising prospect and India will be hoping that he can add a much-needed X-factor to their T20I team, provided he is given the chance to play.
Cameron Green
Australia picked Cameron Green in the squads for all three formats against India. Green has scored heaps of runs in Australian domestic cricket in the last couple of years and this seems to be the right time to elevate him to the next level.
Green has 1196 runs to his name in first-class cricket at an average of just a shade under 50. His limited-overs numbers aren't that impressive though and that's why Justin Langer has mentioned about the possibility of his debut during the Test series. The youngster bowls right-arm medium pace as well and a total of 30 first-class wickets at an average of 22.53 gives quite a good impression about his bowling abilities.
Daniel Sams
The left-arm seam bowling all-rounder, Daniel Samns has been one of the most consistent players in the last two editions of the Big Bash League and he played for Delhi in the recently concluded edition of the Indian T20 League as well. He has been picked in the ODI and T20I squads but the presence of better players in the roster means a chance to play in the first XI will be quite hard to come by.
Sams has a decent all-round record in List-A and T20 cricket though. In 11 List-A matches, he has picked up 16 wickets at 24.68 whilst scoring two fifties as well. As far as T20s go, Sams has 52 wickets to his name in 40 matches, at an excellent average of 20.55.
