The five-match Border Gavaskar Trophy series comes to a close and the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna, and Abhimanyu Easwaran will all fly back to India and join their respective domestic teams to partake in the knockout phase of the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy from January 9 in Vadodara. Washington Sundar, who was a key part of the visiting Indian team down under might be able to feature from the semi-finals onwards if Tamil Nadu gets to that stage.

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Abhimanyu travels a day earlier than Padikkal and Prasidh

It is expected that both Padikkal and Prasidh will fly out from Sydney with the rest of the Indian squad on Wednesday. But surprisingly, Abhimanyu was recalled a day earlier by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), and a flight was booked for him so that he was able to join his state squad in Vadodara after stops in Singapore and Ahmedabad.  

Abhimanyu will take part in the training drills with his Bengal squad ahead of their pre-quarter-final fixture against Haryana. Akash Deep, the other CAB player in the Indian squad sustained a back niggle which kept him out of the fifth and final Test. Understandably so, he will not play any role for Bengal for the remainder of the tournament. 

Padikkal and Prasidh to join Karnataka squad by Januray 10

Karnataka is slated to play their quarter-final game against Baroda on January 11. It is believed that both Padikkal and Prasidh are expected to be back in the squad no later than January 10. Initially included solely in the India A team that was participating in a preparatory tour before the Border-Gavaskar series, Padikkal was later incorporated into the Test squad due to Rohit Sharma's delayed arrival resulting from the birth of his son. Padikkal played a role in India's victory by 295 runs in Perth; however, he was not selected for any of the following Test matches.

The back injury of Akash Deep opened the door for Prasidh Krishna in the fifth and final Test in SCG. He was a standout performer with the ball in Bumrah's absence and finished with six wickets comprising the dismissal of Steve Smith in both innings.