India's strongest ODI XI for the Sri Lanka series
India's squad for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour, which was announced yesterday, expectedly featured several new faces.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Rana, Krishnappa Gowtham and Chetan Sakariya earned their maiden call-ups to the Indian team, with Shikhar Dhawan named the captain and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as the southpaw's deputy.
The tour will begin with three ODIs on July 13, followed by three T20Is in the same month.
India's squad: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (Wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-captain), Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya
Here is India's strongest ODI XI for the Sri Lanka series.
Openers: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prithvi Shaw
By the time the 2023 World Cup rolls around, Shikhar Dhawan will be around 37 years old. But India have retained their faith in the opener in the ODI format, with his performances showing no sign of slowing down. The captain of the side for the tour, he will look to lead from the front and impart his knowledge to the plethora of inexperienced players.
Dhawan's Delhi Capitals opener partner Prithvi Shaw has earned a recall to the Indian team on the basis of his performances in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Indian Premier League. He has played only three ODIs so far and has scores of 20, 24 and 40. It may not be long before we see the right-hander score his maiden ODI ton.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devdutt Padikkal will serve as the backup openers.
Middle Order: Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Manish Pandey
The middle order picks itself to a certain extent in the ODI format. Suryakumar Yadav will make his 50-over debut as he attempts to become a regular across both white-ball formats for India, while Manish Pandey slots in at No. 5 as one of the few experienced middle-order batsmen in the side.
The role of wicket-keeper is a toss-up between Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson, both of whom have never played an ODI for India before. The former might get the nod despite his indifferent IPL season - not only is he a southpaw who adds variety in the middle order, but Samson hasn't really shown the ability to construct big innings in the recent past.
Nitish Rana will wait on the sidelines for an opportunity.