New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on Thursday evening, announced Team India’s squad for the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka. While Suryakumar Yadav was chosen over Hardik Pandya as the skipper for the T20Is, Rohit Sharma was retained as the captain for the ODIs, with Virat Kohli also a part of the setup. With this being Gautam Gambhir’s first assignment as the head coach of the side, his voice was evident with the kind of squad that was named.
While Suryakumar has been named as the skipper for the T20I side, Shubman Gill takes charge as the vice-captain for both the T20Is as well as ODIs. Meanwhile, Hardik and pace spreadhead Jasprit Bumrah have been given rest for the ODIs while Shreyas Iyer makes a return despite not having a BCCI central contract. Along with Iyer, Harshit Rana and Rinku Singh have also made it to the squad while Ruturaj Gaikwad and Kuldeep Yadav have bee axed.
Here are the key takeaways as India announce squad for Sri Lanka tour
Suryakumar chosen over Hardik
While multiple reports in the past few days hinting towards the appointment of Hardik as the captain for the T20Is, it proved otherwise once the official squad was announced. The omission of the flamboyant all-rounder from any leadership role is alarming and the real reason is not known. Gambhir, has meanwhile, shown faith in Suryakumar and chosen him over Pandya. Few reports suggested that due his fitness issues, he might have been snubbed from the captaincy duties but his disastrous stint as the captain of Mumbai Indians can be a solid reason. Pandya, who was the vice-captain at the T20 World Cup, has not been even offered a deputy’s role.
Shubman Gill’s Promotion
During the recently-concluded Zimbabwe tour, Gill enjoyed a fabulous time as he guided India to a series-clinching victory, leading from the front in almost all the games. Gill being selected as the vice-captain for both the formats is a big indicator that Gambhir sees a permanent candidate in him when it comes to performing the deputy’s role and with both Rohit and Suryakumar having crossed a certain age limit, this could be the right time to develop a future captain.
Gambhir’s trust in his KKR boys
The stars of the Kolkata Knight Riders set up Shreyas Iyer, Harshit Rana and Rinku Singh have all been picked for the tour. While Iyer and Rana have been picked for the ODIs, Rinku gets a place in the T20I set up. The trio is believed to be the favourite of new coach Gambhir for obvious reasons as they were part of the IPL title-winning KKR squad. Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhishek Sharma have all been axed from the squad. Both Ruturaj and Abhishek had a fine run in the Zimbabwe tour and despite that, the boys were left out of the upcoming series and Riyan Parag has been given a chance. Kuldeep, who proved to be an asset in the T20 World Cup finds no place and Ravi Bishnoi has instead been picked.
T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj.
ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.
Hardik Pandya was excluded from the leadership role as India announced squads for the limited-overs tour to Sri Lanka. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
