IND vs SL: India squad to be announced today; Gautam Gambhir and Selection Committee in a fix over new T20I captain

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to announce the squad for the upcoming white-ball series against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, July 16. The selection will be closely watched as two-time World Cup winner Gautam Gambhir begins his stint as India’s head coach in the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka.

The Men in Blue tour Sri Lanka for a three-match T20I series, followed by as many ODIs. The upcoming tour will kick off with the three-match T20I series, with the series opener to be played in Pallekele on July 27. The second and third T20Is will be played at the same venue in Pallekele on July 28 and 30, respectively.

The Indian cricket board has yet to name a replacement for Rohit Sharma as T20I captain following his retirement after the T20 World Cup 2024 in the Caribbean. The selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, will need to find replacement players for Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, who also retired from T20I cricket.

The Shubman Gill-led team secured a series victory with a 4-1 margin against Zimbabwe on Sunday, July 14. The selectors could make many changes to the squad from the previous tour, with Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Kuldeep Yadav set to return for the T20I series.

India’s Likely Squad for Sri Lanka T20Is: Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav (VC), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya (C), Axar Patel, Rinku Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Dube, Harshit Rana

Hardik Pandya To Lead Sri Lanka In T20I Matches - Report

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja may not travel to Sri Lanka for the three ODIs due to a busy schedule later this year. According to the latest reports, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul are the leading candidates to take over the captaincy from Rohit in the 50-over format.

India will play only three ODIs in 2024, with their next series scheduled for February 2025, just before the Champions Trophy. BCCI secretary Jay Shah has confirmed that Rohit Sharma will captain India in the 2025 Champions Trophy.

Following the Sri Lanka series, the Indian cricket team has a busy schedule with home Test matches against Bangladesh and New Zealand, followed by the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. These matches are crucial for World Test Championship (WTC) points, as the players aim for India to reach the final.

The Indian team last visited Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup in 2023. The Men in Blue won the 2023 Asia Cup by defeating the hosts in the final in Colombo. Right-arm pacer Mohammed Siraj picked up six wickets for 21 runs as Sri Lanka was bowled out for only 50 runs in 15.2 overs.

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