Sri Lanka will soon host India for a home ODI series. The islanders have not hosted the Men in Blue for a series since 2021. The last time this tour happened, India sent a second-string squad, led by Shikhar Dhawan because the first-choice players were in England, playing a World Test Championship series.
Playing under Dhawan’s captaincy, the Indian team won the series by 2-1. This time, there is a confusion if the senior players will be available or not. New coach Gautam Gambhir will make his debut in the series, and as per reports, he has asked the seniors to be available because after that tour, the next series will be at home against Bangladesh in September, which will be a massive gap.
Surprisingly, the last ODI that India played was the 2023 World Cup Final against Australia on November 19 in India. From the playing XI of the final, Suryakumar Yadav might be dropped from this format now. Even Mohammed Shami will not be available as he is still recovering.
Hence, the other nine players should walk into the squad, along with Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel, who missed the World Cup due to injury. The other four spots will be up for grabs. The selectors might bring in Sanju Samson as a backup wicketkeeper for KL Rahul, while Sai Sudharsan can be the backup opener after a solid debut against South Africa.
It leaves two more spots vacant. Since Gambhir will be the head coach, he might suggest Varun CV’s name to the selectors. Varun had a phenomenal IPL season and could thrive in Sri Lankan conditions. The last name on the team could be Mukesh Kumar, who has been considered as an all-format specialist by the selectors.
India’s predicted squad for ODI series against Sri Lanka in 2024
Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya (vc), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy and Mukesh Kumar.
