SL vs IND: Dhawan to captain India against Sri Lanka
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the squad for the three-match ODI series and the T20I series against Sri Lanka. Shikhar Dhawan will captain Men In Blue, in the absence of regular skipper Virat Kohli, who would be on official duty in England. Dhawan's deputy will be pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The first ODI will be played on July 13.
Squad: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vice-captain), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Rituraj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Krishnappa Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya.
Post a stellar show in the truncated season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Padikkal, and Gaikwad have been handed their India cap by the selectors. However, it seems difficult that these two would get a place in XI, with Dhawan and Shaw expected to open. Fast bowler, Sakariya and top-order batsman Nitish Rana have also been included in the squad.
India's red-ball specialists, including all format regulars Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, would be in England for a full-fledged tour. In their absence, Shaw, Pandey, Samson are back in the mix. Shaw was in terrific touch in IPL 2021. Dinesh Karthik hasn't found a place in the squad. Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, Simarjeet Singh have been picked up as net-bowlers.
First ODI: July 13, second ODI: July 16, and third ODI: July 18. First T20I: July 21, second T20I: July 23 and third T20I: July 25 All matches will be played at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo. India will reach Sri Lanka on June 28.
