After completing a convincing 6-0 victory over West Indies in the T20 and ODI series, the next assignment of team India is their series against Sri Lanka which will start with the T20I series from 24th February.
After whitewashing the West Indies in the T20I series, India has become the number 1 ranked T20 side in the ICC rankings while Sri Lanka is in the 9th position.
So, the men in blue will start the series as overwhelming favorites.
The BCCI has announced an 18 member squad before the T20I series.
Virat Kohli was given a rest from bio-bubble before the 3rd T20I match against West Indies so, he will be unavailable in this series alongside KL Rahul who is missing the series due to injury concerns.
Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah are also making a comeback in the T20 side.
Jasprit Bumrah will be the vice-captain of India in both the T20 and Test series against Sri Lanka.
India’s T20I squad
Rohit Sharma (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Muhammad Siraj, Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav,
Probable XI
The first match of the T20 series is going to be held on 24th February in Lucknow and the most probable playing 11 of team India for that match is given below:
Openers: Rohit and Ishan
The Mumbai openers will open the innings for India in the first match.
Rohit has a brilliant start to his captaincy career with a series win over West Indies but he wasn’t able to play any outstanding knock in the 3 match series.
Rohit also batted at No. 4 to accommodate the young Gaikwad at the opening position but he will surely open the innings in the first T20 match on Thursday.
Ishan Kishan didn’t justify his class in the series against West Indies and he was only able to score 71 runs in 3 matches.
But he will surely not be dropped from the playing XI on the basis of just 1 bad performance and he will open the innings with Rohit Sharma in the first T20I.
Middle Order: Iyer, SKY, and Samson
Rohit Sharma has decided to send Shreyas Iyer at No. 3 in the absence of Virat Kohli in this series.
Iyer usually plays at no 4 or 5 spot but Suryakumar Yadav has cemented his position at no 5 in his absence.
In the absence of India’s first-choice wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson is picked to the T20 squad and he is likely to bat at No 4.
Samson will also take the wicket-keeping gloves because he is added to the squad as a backup option wicketkeeper of Rishabh Pant.
The in-form Suryakumar Yadav will bat at No 5. Yadav was the highest run-getter in both the ODI and T20I series against the West Indies.
He was also the given Man of the Series award due to his excellent performance and he is going to be a key player for India at no 5 in the future.
All-rounders: Venkatesh and Jadeja
Venkatesh Iyer is making full use of Hardik Pandya’s absence and he is trying to cement his position in the T20 side of India.
He was brilliant in the series against West Indies. His stats? He scored 92 runs in 3 matches at crucial stages and also at a strike rate of 184.00.
He is impressing everyone with his all-round performance and he will surely play at the No. 6 position in this series.
The power-hitting of the lower-order will be boosted with the edition of Ravindra Jadeja at no 7.
The experienced all-rounder will not strengthen the batting but he will also play as a frontline spinner for India.
Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar, Harshal, Bumrah, and Chahal
The experienced fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar was in great touch against West Indies and he looked to have gained some of his old rhythm back and he would be playing at the No. 8 position due to his batting ability.
Harshal Patel was simply outstanding in the T20I series against West Indies.
He is carrying good form and he will participate in this series as a specialist middle and death-overs bowler.
Patel will play at the No. 9 spot despite the presence of Deepak Chahar and Avesh Khan in the squad.
Harshal Patel’s surprising slower balls and yorkers will form a deadly combination alongside Jasprit Bumrah.
Jasprit Bumrah has returned to the side and he will take the No. 10 position followed by leggie Yuzvendra Chahal, who will keep Ravi Bishnoi on the bench for the first T20I due to his experience and seniority.
