BCCI announced the squad for the imminent T20Is and ODIs against Sri Lanka and Hardik Pandya will be leading the Indian side in the shortest format of the game while Rohit Sharma will be returning as the skipper for the ODIs.
Virat Kohli has been excluded from the upcoming T20Is but will be available for the 50-over games that will be following suit after the first three T20Is. In a shocking move, seasoned campaigner, Shikhar Dhawan has been dropped from the ODI side after a poor run in Bangladesh.
Another name that was axed from both the sides was Rishabh Pant who had a fine outing against Bangladesh in the Tests but the hard-hitting southpaw couldn’t find himself a place in the Indian squad for both the T20Is and ODIs.
Rohit is still recuperating and hence BCCI wanted him onboard from the ODIs considering the upcoming World Cup in 2023 while Kohli will also be returning to the ODI series after a brief break in the T20Is.
India will be starting the new calendar year with a bilateral affair against Sri Lanka that will comprise 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs. The first T20I will be played at Mumbai on January 3rd followed by the second contest on January 5th and eventually the final T20I will be played in Rajkot on January 7th. The upcoming three ODIs will be played in Guwahati on January 10th which will be followed by the second contest in Kolkata on January 12th and eventually the series finale on January 15th at Thiruvanthapuram.
India’s squad for Sri Lanka T20Is: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (VC), Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar.India’s squad for Sri Lanka ODIs: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (VC), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohamed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.