India squad for Sri Lanka ODIs announced, Shubman Gill named vice-captain, Shreyas Iyer returns

The BCCI, on Thursday (July 18), announced Team India's ODI squad for the upcoming three-match series against Sri Lanka. It will be India's first ODI series of the ongoing year.

The Men in Blue have not played an ODI series since the three-match series against South Africa in December last year. It will be also India's first ODI series with Gautam Gambhir as the head coach. Earlier this month, the former India opener replaced Rahul Dravid as the coach of the team.

Talking about the squad, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have returned to the ODI squads. While both the senior batters were expected to be rested for the series, they reportedly made themselves available after Gambhir's request as the upcoming series is his first assignment as the head coach. Both the veteran batters will be playing an ODI for the first time since the World Cup final in November last year.

India squad for Sri Lanka ODIs 2024:

The highlight of the squad is the return of Shreyas Iyer to the team. Earlier this year, the right-handed batsman was dropped from the team and lost his central contract as well for not playing in domestic cricket. However, the selectors have given him a recall for the upcoming series.

In another big call, the selectors and the team management have also decided to hand the vice-captaincy to Shubman Gill. He has replaced Hardik Pandya as the new vice-captain of the team. Riyan Parag and Harshit Rana have also earned their maiden ODI call-ups, just days after earning their maiden T20I call-ups for the series against Zimbabwe earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the three-match ODI series between Sri Lanka and India is scheduled to get underway on August 2. The second and third games are scheduled to take place on August 4 and 7 respectively. All the three games will be taking place in Colombo. Before the ODIs, both teams will also be playing a three-match T20I series.

India squad:

Rohit Sharma (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.

India vs Sri Lanka ODI series: