On Thursday, The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a completely different Indian squad for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka in July 2021. The tour will feature three ODI matches and three T-20 matches. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has picked up a squad of 20 members for the tour.
Three ODI matches will be played on 13th July, 16th July and 18th July respectively and three T-20 matches will be played on 21st July, 23rd July and 25th July respectively. The BCCI also said that all matches will be played at the R-Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.
The BCCI has earlier said that Rahul Dravid will be India’s head coach for the six-match white-ball tour of Sri Lanka. In addition to Dravid, the coaching staff of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) will be members of the Dravidian team.
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Schedule for the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka:
| MATCH | DATE | VENUE |
| 1st ODI | 13th July | Colombo |
| 2nd ODI | 16th July | Colombo |
| 3rd ODI | 18th July | Colombo |
Schedule for the three-match T-20 series against Sri Lanka:
| MATCH | DATE | VENUE |
| 1st T20 | 21st July | Colombo |
| 2nd T20 | 23rd July | Colombo |
| 3rd T20 | 25th July | Colombo |
Shikhar Dhawan named as the captain for the Sri Lanka tour:
India’s all-format captain Virat Kohli and limited-overs co-captain Rohit Sharma are currently in England to play in the final of the World Test Championship against New Zealand on Jun 18.
The five-match Test series against England after the WTC final will start on August 4.
That’s why the Sri Lanka tour will be complete without all the regular players of the Indian team.
In the absence of regular skipper Virat Kohli and co-captain Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan will lead the team. Bhubaneswar Kumar will be the vice-captain.
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Details of the squad:
The announced Indian squad for the Sri Lanka tour includes middle-order batsman Nitish Rana, all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham, opening batsmen Devdutt Padikkal and Ruturaj Gaikwad and fast bowler Chetan Sakaria.
Prithvi Shaw, who scored 827 runs for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, is also back in the squad.
Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan, who started their careers for India in the limited-overs series against England in March, have also been selected for the tour of Sri Lanka.
The squad also includes players like Manish Pandey and veteran all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson have been named as wicket keepers.
Experienced bowler Bhubaneswar Kumar will lead the fast bowling attack and is accompanied by Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini and newcomer Chetan Sakariya.
Limited overs specialist Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav and mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy has got a place in the team as a spinner.
Hardik Pandya, experienced Karnataka spinner Krishnappa Gowtham and Krunal Pandya are all-rounder.
In addition to these 20 names, BCCI has announced the names of Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, Simarjeet Singh as net bowlers.
India’s squad for Sri Lanka tour:
Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (Wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-captain), Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Chetan Sakariya
Net Bowlers:
Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Sai Kishore, Arshdeep Singh, Simarjeet Singh
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This is a great opportunity to showcase the talents of young cricketers in the absence of senior players.