India Squad for Sri Lanka Tour Live Updates: Will Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma be available for ODIs?

.

.

.

India vs Sri Lanka Squad Announcement Live Updates: Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma had announced their retirement from T20Is after India’s T20 World Cup triumph in the Caribbean last month. However, the duo are set to continue featuring in ODIs and Test cricket. Rohit has even been announced as the skipper for the ICC Champions Trophy scheduled to be held in February-March next year.

Virat and Rohit’s availability for the ODIs on the Sri Lanka tour was uncertain until the new coach Gautam Gambhir suggested that he would want the senior players to make themselves available for the series. However, it still remains to be seen if the two batting legends will be part of the squad or not.

This will be the first assignment for Gambhir since taking over the head coach’s role from Rahul Dravid.

India are scheduled to tour the island nation from July 27 to August 7 for a series of three T20Is and as many ODIs.

India Squad For Sri Lanka Tour Live Updates: ‘In team meetings … ‘

Whatever I have learned from him, it is about the mindset that you should always look to get the better of your opponent and give your 100 per cent.

In team meetings, as well as one-on-ones, he would speak less but would convey his point as to what is to be done. He would assign tasks and roles to players and he has always been a ‘team coach’, he always wants to win and everyone to give their 100 per cent

AVESH KHAN

12:21 (IST) Jul 17

India Squad For Sri Lanka Tour Live Updates: Gautam Gambhir will be a ‘team coach’

Gautam Gambhir’s single-minded objective of winning at all costs and striving to extract cent percent out of his players make him a ‘team coach’, reckons fast bowler Avesh Khan, who is aiming for a longer and consistent run in the national set-up

under the newly-appointed gaffer.

Gambhir, who was officially unveiled as India’s next head coach earlier this week, will start with an away white-ball series comprising three T20Is and as many ODIs in Sri Lanka from June 26.

Avesh, who has played under Gambhir’s mentorship at IPL side Lucknow Super Giants, shared a few insights on his style here on Friday.

12:05 (IST) Jul 17

India Squad For Sri Lanka Tour Live Updates: ‘Time has come to write bigger, bolder scripts’

Following his appointment as the head coach of Indian team, former Indian batter Gautam Gambhir paid a tribute to the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and its fans as he vacates his position as the coach of the franchise after helping them secure their first title in a decade this season.

Gambhir was announced as the new head coach of Team India, replacing batting legend Rahul Dravid, on July 9 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

11:51 (IST) Jul 17

India Squad For Sri Lanka Tour Live Updates: ‘Gambhir has great cricket brain’

Former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn lauded Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as India’s head coach and said his aggression and game awareness on the field will be beneficial for the Men in Blue.

BCCI announced Gambhir as head coach of the Indian team after the departure of Rahul Dravid. India clinched the T20 World Cup title to end the 11-year-long ICC trophy drought in his last assignment.

11:40 (IST) Jul 17

India Squad For Sri Lanka Tour Live Updates: Rohit Sharma confirms playing ODI, Test formats

India captain Rohit Sharma has confirmed that he will continue playing for the country in ODI and Test formats “at least for a while” after announcing his retirement from T20Is after lifting the T20 World Cup in Barbados.

Under Rohit’s leadership, India ended their 11-year-long wait for an ICC trophy and defeated South Africa in the final to clinch their second T20 World Cup title. It was India’s first major win after winning the 2013 Champions Trophy.

Just after the T20 World Cup final, Virat Kohli, Rohit and Ravindra Jadeja announced their T20I retirements. However, the trio confirmed to play the other formats of the game.

In 159 T20Is, Rohit concluded his time in the format as the highest-run scorer with 4,231 runs including five hundreds and 32 fifties.

11:25 (IST) Jul 17

India Squad For Sri Lanka Tour Live Updates: SKY’ leadership experience

Suryakumar Yadav brings a wealth of leadership experience, having captained Mumbai in domestic cricket and India in the T20I series against Australia and South Africa last year.

His aggressive batting style aligns well with contemporary T20 cricket, making him a key player in India’s line-up.

11:11 (IST) Jul 17

India Squad For Sri Lanka Tour Live Updates: Hardik’s extensive captaincy experience

Despite Hardik’s extensive captaincy experience—including leading India in three ODIs and 16 T20Is, as well as captaining Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians in the IPL—his recurring injuries have impacted his availability.

Most recently, an ankle injury during the ODI World Cup in October 2023 sidelined him until IPL 2024.

Since the start of 2022, Hardik has participated in only 46 out of India’s 79 T20Is.

11:02 (IST) Jul 17

India Squad For Sri Lanka Tour Live Updates: Suryakumar to lead India in T20Is vs Sri Lanka?

In a significant leadership change for the Indian men’s cricket team, Suryakumar Yadav is poised to lead the T20I side in the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka which commences on July 27.

The T20I World Cup vice-captain Hardik Pandya might be left out from the Indian squad for Sri Lanka which is expected to be announced on Wednesday afternoon. Pandya has excused himself, citing personal and family reasons for his unavailability. Hardik will return to the Indian side against Bangladesh for T2OIs.

Suryakumar will take over from Rohit Sharma, who recently led India to victory in the T20 World Cup before retiring from the format, along with veterans Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja.

10:52 (IST) Jul 17

India Squad For Sri Lanka Tour Live Updates: Thrust on domestic availability

BCCI secretary Jay Shah has made it clear that even star cricketers must make themselves available for domestic engagements when they are free from national duty. But exceptions will be made for the likes of Rohit, Virat Kohli and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.

The BCCI would, however, want all the other Test specialists to play at least one if not a couple of Duleep Trophy games in August as a precursor to the Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand.

10:34 (IST) Jul 17

India Squad For Sri Lanka Tour Live Updates: Surya most popular players in the Indian dressing room?

The 33-year-old Suryakumar is believed to be one of the most popular players in the Indian dressing room.

It was under Gambhir’s captaincy at the Kolkata Knight Riders that he made a name for himself as a T20 player and got nicknamed ‘SKY’ by the then skipper.

Hardik was seen as an obvious successor to Rohit but multiple factors have come into play. His performance as Mumbai Indians skipper was underwhelming and the selectors are in no mood to let him pick and choose his assignments.

The selectors won’t mind seeing him play Vijay Hazare Trophy this season to get some 50-over practice.

About the ODIs, the official confirmed that Pandya has asked for leave and has already communicated this to Rohit, who is also taking a break from this series. For the ODIs, KL Rahul, who led in the last series in South Africa, and Gill are in contention for the leadership role.