India will face Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series that starts on July 27 in Pallekele. After the retirement of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav will lead in the T20Is, and Shubman Gill was appointed as his deputy on Thursday (July 18). The former world No. 1 T20I batter, Surya, was picked as India’s new captain ahead of Hardik Pandya and will have big shoes to fill.
In Gautam Gambhir’s first series as head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team, T20 World Cup champions India would like to get the better of Sri Lanka in all three matches.
During the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, Indian team management will have a big selection headache as there are multiple options available for each position in the playing XI. Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson will fight for the wicketkeeper-batter’s role, and it will be interesting to see who out of Axar Patel and Washington Sundar gets a chance to play as a spin bowling all-rounder.
In all likelihood, Gill will open the innings in the three shortest format matches, along with Yashasvi Jaiswal, who remained unbeaten on 93 runs from 53 balls in the fourth T20I played against Zimbabwe last week. Pant batted at No. 3 in the T20 World Cup 2024 for India, and after Virat Kohli’s retirement, he is likely to continue batting at that position in the future as well.
Captain Surya will back himself to bat in his usual No. 4 position. Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, and Rinku Singh are expected to bat at No. 5, 6, and 7 for the Men in Blue against Sri Lanka, which means that despite scoring fifty in the last T20I, Samson will warm the bench like he did in the T20 World Cup 2024.
Washington Sundar and Axar Patel are two spin bowling all-rounders picked in the squad, and it will be interesting to see if both of them manage to find a place in the playing XI or if only one gets the chance. It will be a difficult call to pick one as both of them have done well in the recent past, but if both feature in the XI, then former world No. 1 T20I bowler Ravi Bishnoi will have to warm the bench, which is highly unlikely.
In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, who dismissed 17 batters in the T20 World Cup 2024, will lead India’s pace attack and have Mohammed Siraj for support.
India’s likely playing XI for the T20I series against Sri Lanka: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant (WK), Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj.
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