Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma (AFP Photo)

Even without superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the buzz around India’s upcoming T20I matches against Australia has reached a fever pitch. Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed that public ticket allocations for the Melbourne T20 International between Australia and India have been completely sold out — more than three weeks before match day.The highly anticipated clash, scheduled for Friday, 31 October at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), will be part of India’s white-ball tour of Australia. The sell-out is a remarkable milestone considering that both Kohli and Rohit — two of India’s biggest draws — have retired from T20 internationals following India’s triumphant 2024 T20 World Cup campaign and will not feature in those matches.Their absence hasn’t dimmed the excitement. According to CA, ticket sales across the entire series have already topped 175,000, with fewer than 30,000 tickets remaining for the eight scheduled matches. Public allocations for Sydney and Manuka Oval are already gone, while the Adelaide ODI and Gabba T20I are nearing capacity with less than 5,000 seats left each.Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg said the overwhelming response reflects the unmatched appeal of the India–Australia rivalry.“The huge crowd anticipated for the Melbourne T20I is another strong indicator of the incredible interest in this series,” he said in a statement.“We’re thrilled to see fans embracing the Australia v India contest with such passion, and we look forward to delivering a world-class experience both on and off the field.“To have over 175,000 tickets sold with 13 days until the first ODI in Perth is a phenomenal result. It speaks volumes about the strength of the rivalry and the enthusiasm of fans across the country.”The BCCI recently named Shubman Gill as India’s new ODI captain, with Shreyas Iyer as his deputy. And while Kohli and Rohit won’t feature in the T20Is, they will take the field in the ODI series.India’s ODI squad includes Shubman Gill as captain, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer as vice-captain, KL Rahul as wicketkeeper, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel as wicketkeeper, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.The T20I squad sees Suryakumar Yadav leading the side, with Shubman Gill as vice-captain. The team includes Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma as wicketkeeper, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson as wicketkeeper, Rinku Singh, and Washington Sundar.Men’s ODI Series v India

Men’s T20I Series v India