India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will battle it out in the Nidahas T20I Tri-series in Sri Lanka from March 6th, 2018. The series is being played to celebrate the 70 years of Sri Lankan independence.
With IPL coming up in April, it was reported that BCCI may give a bunch of Indian team players rest during the tri-series and now it has been almost confirmed by sources close to BCCI that atleast five top players will miss the series.
These players are Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah; all of them have had big workload on the South Africa tour.
Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian team in absence of Virat Kohli. “What is the point of sending these cricketers after such a hectic South African tour,” a team source said.
With Kedar Jadhav also on the injured list, there may be as much as six openings in the Indian team on the tour Sri Lanka.
As for a replacement for MS Dhoni, two selectors along with BCCI selection committee chairman MSK Prasad were seen chatting with Delhi wicketkeeper Rishab Pant on the sidelines at the Palam Ground and in all likelihood, Pant will replace Dhoni in Sri Lanka.
