IND vs SL | Shikhar Dhawan to captain; Padikkal, Sakariya, Gaikwad receive maiden call-ups

A host of IPL stars are in line to make their international debut as the BCCI have named a youth-filled squad for the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka, that comprises only white-ball specialists. Openers Devdutt Padikkal and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been handed maiden ODI call-ups, as have the duo of Ishan Kishan and Nitish Rana. Off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham has also been named in the squad, while left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya, who was the find of IPL 2021, also has found a place in the squad. 

The extended squad also features Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey and Krunal Pandya, while Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have both retained their places in the squad. Sanju Samson, who to date has not played an ODI, has been handed a call-up after an impressive start to IPL 2021, while the squad also sees the return of Deepak Chahar, who last played an ODI in 2019.

The young squad will be led by Shikhar Dhawan, and, despite the presence of Hardik Pandya, pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar will serve as the deputy to the Delhite.  The tour will comprise of 3 ODIs and as many T20Is, and will kick off on July 13 in Colombo.

India’s squad: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (Wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-captain), Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya

Net Bowlers: Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, Simarjeet Singh