Shikhar Dhawan To Lead, Bhuvneshwar Kumar His Deputy As India Announce 20-member Limited-Overs Squad For Sri Lanka Tour
Jun 11, 2021 at 12:53 PM
Shikhar Dhawan will captain the young Indian side in the 3-match ODI series and the 3-match T20I series against Sri Lanka scheduled in the month of July.
The All-India Senior Selection Committee picked the Indian squad for the 3-match ODI series and the 3-match T20I series against Sri Lanka scheduled in the month of July. All matches will be played at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo. They have picked 20 players in the squad with five net bowlers.
Shikhar Dhawan To Lead, Bhuvneshwar Kumar To Be His Deputy In Sri Lanka Tour
Shikhar Dhawan will captain the 20 members Indian side. Shikhar Dhawan was the leading run-scorer in IPL 2021 before it was postponed with 380 runs from 8 games averaging 54.28. Shikhar Dhawan was the 2nd highest run-getter in IPL 2020 too with 618 runs in 17 games. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be the vice-captain of the team during the tour of Sri Lanka.
Prithvi Shaw has earned a call-up into the white-ball squad following his excellent form in IPL 2021 (308 runs) and Vijay Hazare Trophy (827 runs).
Opening batsmen Devdutt Padikkal and Ruturaj Gaikwad have also been named to the squad for the first time. Devdutt Padikkal (473 runs in IPL 2020 and 195 runs in IPL 2021) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (204 runs in IPL 2020 and 196 runs in IPL 2021) have been consistent since they debuted in IPL 2020 at UAE.
Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana have also found a place for themselves in the squad. Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson are the two wicket keepers who have been included in the squad. Nitish Rana had scored above 300 runs in every edition since IPL 2017 and managed 201 runs in 7 games in IPL 2021.
Chetan Sakariya Included For First Time In 20 Man Squad
Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham have been chosen as the spinners while the young speedster, Chetan Sakariya who impressed everyone in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 where he picked 7 wickets in as many games for Rajasthan Royals has also earned a place in the squad.
Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Rana, K Gowtham and Chetan Sakariya got maiden India call-ups. Yuzvendra Chahal will lead the spin department and will have support from the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Krunal Pandya, and Varun Chakravarthy. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will spearhead the pace attack with support from the likes of Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, and Chetan Sakariya.
The schedule for the three-match ODI series and three-match T20I series between India and Sri Lanka was confirmed earlier this week. The three ODIs will be played on July 13, 16, and 18. While the T20I series will commence on July 21, and the next two matches will be played on July 23 and 25.
None of India’s players who are a part of the travelling group for the World Test Championship final and the England Test series will be part of the Sri Lanka series. Former India skipper and current National Cricket Academy (NCA) head Rahul Dravid is set to coach the Indian limited-overs team that will play the six-game series against Sri Lanka in July.
India’s squad: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (Wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-captain), Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya
Net Bowlers: Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, Simarjeet Singh