Team India is all set to host Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I and ODI series next month, starting on January 3. On Tuesday (December 27), the BCCI announced two separate Team India squads for the upcoming limited-overs series against Sri Lanka, with a couple of surprising changes.
One of the most surprising calls was dropping Shikhar Dhawan, once India's go-to man in the 50-over format, from ODIs. The other surprise was the appointment of Surykumar Yadav as vice-captain of the T20Is for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka.
The BCCI also excluded Rishabh Pant from both squads, and even KL Rahul is only part of the ODI squad as a wicketkeeper-batter, with Hardik Pandya being named captain for the T20I series and vice-captain for the ODI series.
Meanwhile, Dhawan led Team India on its recent tour of New Zealand, but his string of poor performances with the bat went against him.
The veteran left-hander managed to hit just one half-century in his last 10 ODI innings, which may have led the national selectors to prefer Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill over him for the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka, keeping in mind the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023.
Dhawan didn’t have a great time on the field in 2022, as the veteran opener scored only 688 runs with the highest score of 97 in 22 ODI matches for India. He could only hit six home runs this year
Following the announcement of India's squads for the Sri Lanka series, fans expressed their disappointment for Dhawan and shared heartfelt posts for the veteran opener following his omission from the ODI team.
Here are a few reactions:
