India vs Sri Lanka: India white-ball captain Rohit Sharma has been appointed the Test captain ahead of the two-match series against Sri Lanka.
· NDTV Sports Desk
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Highlights
- Rohit Sharma named Test captain ahead of Sri Lanka series
- Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant to miss T20I series against Sri Lanka
- Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane dropped from Sri Lanka Tests
India squad for Sri Lanka series announced: India white-ball captain Rohit Sharma has been appointed the Test captain ahead of the two-match series against Sri Lanka while Jasprit Bumrah was named his deputy. The first Test against Sri Lanka begins on March 4 in Mohali while the second Test will be a day-night affair in Bengaluru from March 12 onwards. Virat Kohli has been rested from the T20I series but will return for the Test matches while Rishabh Pant has been rested from Sri Lanka’s entire tour of India along with Shardul Thakur.
Chairman of All-India Senior Selection Committee Chetan Sharma said that “there was no discussion” on Rohit’s appointment and that he was a “clear choice”.
Chetan Sharma also said that Rohit will be the captain of the Indian cricket team going forward in Tests, unless he is not fit or unavailable for some reason.
Meanwhile, veteran batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have been dropped from the Test side for the series against Sri Lanka, but Chetan Sharma made it clear that the “doors are still open” for the duo.
Washington Sundar and KL Rahul will also miss the entire home series against Sri Lanka “unless they recover early”.
Chetan Sharma also said that while Ravichandran Ashwin is part of the Test squad, his participation in the series will be subject to fitness clearance.
“Ashwin’s fitness to be assessed by the team management before the Mohali Test,” said the chairman of the Indian selection committee.
India Test squad for SL series: Rohit Sharma (C), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharath, R Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Sourabh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah (VC).
T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah(VC), Avesh Khan.