Former India skipper and National Cricket Academy (NCA) head Rahul Dravid will lead the India team that will tour Sri Lanka for a bilateral series in July. As the Indian team will be busy with a bilateral away Test series against England in July, a different squad will be sent for the Sri Lanka tour.
Popular Indian players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, KL Rahul, among others will fly to England for ICC World Test Championship to be held on June 18 onwards.
The India vs England Test series will commence on August 4, 2021, but the Indian team will stay in England during July so as to complete the quarantine protocols ahead of the Test series. The new squad that will be sent to Sri Lanka will play 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is. The ODI series will begin on July 13 followed by the T20I series from July 22.
Due to the absence of crucial players during India vs Sri Lanka series, many uncapped Indian players will get a chance to make their international debut. Here we look at 5 Indian players who can make their debut under Rahul Dravid in Sri Lanka.
5 Indian Players Who Can Make Their Debut Under Rahul Dravid In Sri Lanka
Devdutt Padikkal
Devdutt Padikkal has great chances of making his international debut against Sri Lanka owing to his consistent batting performance at the domestic level and IPL. He made his debut in IPL 2020 and ended as the highest run-scorer for Royal Challengers Bangalore. He smashed 5 half-centuries while scoring 473 runs. The left-handed batsman Padikkal was also awarded the emerging player of the year award in IPL 2020.
Earlier this year, he bagged the limelight in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2020-21 after smashing 3 centuries and 3 half-centuries in 7 matches. He was the 2nd highest run-scorer with 737 runs. In IPL 2021, he impressed everyone with a century (101) against Rajasthan Royals.