IND vs SL | Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli to miss Sri Lanka T20Is; Shikhar Dhawan dropped from ODI squad

In the absence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya will captain India in their three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, scheduled to get underway at Wankhede Stadium on January 3. However, the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill and Washington Sundar who were part of India’s recent T20I squad in New Zealand, have retained their places. Barring Rohit and Virat, Bhuvneshawar Kumar and Mohammed Shami were the other notable absentees from the shortest format’s squad.

In the ODI squad, the omission of Shikhar Dhawan has attracted a lot of attention. Since 2021, Dhawan has an average of 39.40 and a strike rate of 78.80 for his 985 runs across 28 matches, with five fifties under his name. He recently struggled in the ODI leg in New Zealand, and the question now arises whether he will be part of the Men in Blue squad for this year’s ODI World Cup at home.

While Dhawan’s drop raised the eyebrows of many, Ravindra Jadeja will also miss the series as he is yet to recover from his knee injury.. Rohit, will return to the side to captain India from January 10 when the three-match ODI series will get underway at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati. Also, in a surprising move selectors have excluded Rishabh Pant from both squads. 

Uttar Pradesh’s Shivam Mavi and Bengal’s Mukesh Kumar have earned maiden T20I call-ups courtesy of their brilliant performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this year. 

India squad for the Sri Lanka T20Is: Hardik Pandya (capt), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar.

India squad for the Sri Lanka ODIs: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohamed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.