IND vs SL: India is all set to tour Sri Lanka on the 27th of this month. India will play their first series under the new head coach, Gautam Gambhir, who will remain with the Indian team for all major tournaments until 2027.
The tour will comprise three T20Is, which will be played at the Pallekele International Stadium, and then the team will move to the capital city of Colombo for the ODI series. Team India has not yet announced the squads for either the T20I or the ODI series, as the team meeting is to be held on the 18th of July.
As per reports from ESPNcricinfo, Gautam Gambhir had earlier urged the Indian skipper to be available for the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka. Though Gambhir had also requested the same for veteran Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, they might not be featured in the series.
IPL-winning skipper and ex-KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir will look to make a comeback for the Indian side. Yes, it is the World Cup campaigner, Shreyas Iyer, who had a wonderful World Cup in 2023, who was ruled out of a contract by the BCCi, and now he is looking to make a comeback.
India Tour of Sri Lanka
Probable Squads for the Sri Lanka Tour
India’s probable squad for Sri Lanka T20I: Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, and Rinku Singh.
India’s probable squad for the Sri Lanka ODI is: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Md. Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, and Arshdeep Singh.
Players’ Status and Availability
Though nothing has been fixed, Rohit Sharma might be making a comeback with the Indian team for the ODI series at the behest of the new Indian head coach’s request. However, it is almost confirmed that both Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah are sure to not feature for the Men in Blue.
One of India’s top run-scorers and better players in the Cricket World Cup of 2023, Shreyas Iyer, who was dropped from the BCCI annual contract, is expected to return to the Indian side under Gambhir’s tenure.
Hardik Pandya has also asked the BCCI not to include him in the ODI series due to some family concerns, and hence he is set to be replaced by Sanju Samson, who will now be seen with the Indian team in the longer limited-overs format as well.
The last keynote would be the captaincy options, and Suryakumar Yadav will likely be seen as the new T20I skipper for India, maybe in a permanent role till the next World Cup in 2026. However, if Rohit fails to make it to the ODi series, then KL Rahul might be seen as his deputy with the captain’s band for the series.
