Former Indian captain Virat Kohli has rested ahead of the third T20I match between India and Sri Lanka as the Blues were already 2-0 up and had won the series. However, unlike Rishabh Pant and Rahul Chahar, who was rested due to injuries, Virat Kohli has decided not to waste any time and has already started to practice for the upcoming test series between India and West Indies.
Virat was seen practising at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium on Sunday after he joined the rest of the test squad (leaving the ones playing in the T20I series) ahead of the Sri Lanka test series. According to Hindustan Times, he received a warm welcome upon his arrival. Rishabh Pant, Jayant Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Jayant Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin all made a hurdle around him when he came in.
Virat Kohli stepped down as India’s test captain all of a sudden after their loss in the first test against South Africa away from home. It was probably an effect of the growing tension between Virat Kohli and BCCI regarding the ODI captaincy controversy. However, as it now stands, Virat Kohli is no more the captain of India in any format and he has been replaced by Rohit Sharma in all of them. The India vs Sri Lanka test series will thus mark the beginning of a new era.
India will be playing two test matches against Sri Lanka. The first match will be played at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium from 4th to 8th March. The second match will be played at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium from 12th to 16th March. Rohit Sharna will be leading team India. This is the first time that he will play a Test match as India’s permanent Test captain. Jasprit Bumrah has been made the Vice-captain.
According to ICC Test rankings, India is currently placed at number 3 with a rating of 116 while Sri Lanka is seated at seventh place with a rating of 83. India will look to improve their rankings in the upcoming test series.
Team India Test squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Mayank Agarwal, Md. Shami, Md. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, R Pant, KS Bharat, R Ashwin, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, R Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, J Bumrah (VC)