India to tour Sri Lanka for 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is in July.
COC Predicted Team India squad for Sri Lanka ODIs and T20Is
The BCCI is compelled to send a totally new look Indian team as first-choice players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and others will be in England. This will also mean BCCI will need to name a new captain for the 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is in Sri Lanka.
Hence, Team COC takes a look at four possible options for Team India for the white-ball Sri Lanka tour
BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR
Bhuvneshwar Kumar rubbishes report of him not wanting to play Test cricket
The Uttar Pradesh pacer has captaincy experience in both domestic cricket and the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has led Uttar Pradesh in limited-overs domestic cricket most recently and also led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL as well when David Warner was unavailable and Kane Williamson was injured.
Though he has relatively less experience as a captain, having a bowling captain is a boon for any team and he has previous experience of playing in Sri Lanka as well, where he scored his only ODI half-century as well.
HARDIK PANDYA
Hardik Pandya has not been able to bowl full tilt since returning from his back surgery in 2020, but he has been a brilliant finisher for both the Indian team and Mumbai Indians in the IPL as well.
Though he has no captaincy experience at any level, Pandya, who made his India debut in 2016, has been part of the Indian team’s leadership group.
He can be the out-of-the-box choice as India captain as no one will expect him to lead the Indian team.
SHIKHAR DHAWAN
Dhawan was the vice-captain of the Indian team for the Asia Cup 2018 which India won under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma. The India left-hander has played 142 ODIs and 65 T20I matches for India since 2010 and has made 5977 and 1673 runs respectively with 17 centuries in the limited-overs format.
He is the most experienced amongst the possible team India members who might travel to Sri Lanka for the white-ball tour and is the best choice for the captaincy.
SHREYAS IYER
Since then, he has undergone surgery to fix his injury and has been sharing videos of his gym sessions. This might mean that he may get fit in time for the Sri Lanka tour and if he does make it into the Men in Blue team, he should be made captain as well.
WATCH- “Work in progress," Shreyas Iyer shares gym training video
Shreyas Iyer has captained Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy and other tournaments and also led the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) since 2018 when he took over from Gautam Gambhir mid-tournament. He led the team to their maiden final of the tournament in the IPL 2020 edition in UAE.
He is young and is a potential captaincy candidate for the Indian team in the future as well, and should be given the chance to lead the team against Sri Lanka if he is fit and raring to go.