Team India will kickstart 2023 with some explosive changes in the squad. After a string of poor shows in the shortest format of the game, Rishabh Pant has been axed from the Indian squad, on the other hand, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan have returned to the T20 fold, in its first home series of 2023 against Sri Lanka, the BCCI announced on Tuesday. Besides this, KL Rahul is also a big miss in the T20 team as BCCI begins India T20 Reboot.
Indian star all-rounder Hardik Pandya will lead the Indian t20I squad in the absence of regular captain Rohit Sharma. This will be the 2nd consecutive series where Hardik will be leading the Indian cricket team in T20Is in regular skipper Rohit Sharma’s absence since India’s tour to New Zealand in November following the T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal defeat.
India’s regular captain Rohit Sharma has been recovering from a thumb injury that he suffered during the 2nd ODI match against Bangladesh. There were reports that Rohit Sharma, who is currently recovering from a thumb injury in Mumbai, is likely to take some more time to heal. Rohit will return to lead the Indian squad later in January for three-match ODI series that kickstarts in Guwahati on January 10.
Uttar Pradesh seamer Shivam Mavi and Bengal pacer Mukesh Kumar also received their maiden T20I call-ups while Ruturaj Gaikwad marked his return to the side.
India vs Sri Lanka T20I series schedule:
- 1st T20I (Jan 3, Mumbai)
- 2nd T20I (Jan 5, Pune)
- 3rd T20I (Jan 7, Rajkot)
India vs Sri Lanka ODI series schedule:
- 1st ODI (Jan 10, Guwahati)
- 2nd ODI (Jan 12, Kolkata)
- 3rd ODI (Jan 15; Thiruvananthapurm)
FULL SQUAD:
India’s squad for Sri Lanka T20Is:
Hardik Pandya (Captain), 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’s squad for Sri Lanka ODIs:
Rohit Sharma (Captain), 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, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.
