Squad announced for Sri Lanka tour

Odi Squad 

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubhman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (WK), KL Rahul (WK), Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Iyyer, Axar patel, Washington Sundar, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav.

Probable 11

1) Rohit 

2) Gill

3) Virat

4) Iyyer

5) Rahul

6) Pant

7) Axar

8) Washi

9) Arshdeep

10) Siraj

11) Kuldeep

It is a very tough job to select a balance team with this squad. You can only play 5 bowlers, which is very risky. Batting is very deep which gives you confidence on playing aggressively from start.

A lot of questions were answered today by the chief selector Ajit Agarkar and Head Coach Gautam Gambhir. Ajit confirmed that Jadeja has been rested and not dropped, I think that it's good that the management is not completely over him as there are very less odi's before champions trophy to test the players. Jadeja's future will depend upon the performance of Axar patel and Washington Sundar (especially with bat). 

Washington Sundar's role for the tour

Sundar has a chance to confirm his place in the odi setup by performing in the tour. He might be asked to play the role of floater incase of batting collapse. Washi brings stability with him as he can bat and bowl at any position. If team is going with only with 2 pacer, Rohit may ask Washi to bowl couple of overs in the powerplay economically. Expecting a all round performance from him this tour which may confirm his place in the team. He is very unlucky, he gets injured very often. Surprisingly, the last test match he played was against England and he scored unbeaten 96 in that match and management dropped him after that series. 

Axar Patel is also expected to play the similar role as Washi.

Real test for Arshdeep in odi's

A pretty good record in 6 odi's he played, but I feel he needs to improve himself a lot more in the longer format. He needs to be a lot more economical, he takes wickets in the powerplay but also gets hit for runs in the later half. If he manages to control runs along with taking wicket he will be lethal. Both Siraj and Arshdeep are great powerplay bowlers, if they are getting some help from the pitch they will finish Sri Lankan team within an hour or less. Expecting a powerfull start of the tour from both of them.

Rahul vs Pant for wicketkeeping spot?

I think Gambhir will try to give equal chance to both of them in this tour to make sure who makes their place in the 11 for the champions trophy. I feel Rahul is required to play at no. 5, he is pretty successful playing at no. 5. Whereas, Pant doesn't provide you that stability which is needed in an odi side. Maybe, iyyer is the one who will sacrifice his place to make pant play in champions trophy. But I personally want Iyyer and Rahul to play and Pant to warm the bench. We have already seen the balance Iyyer and Rahul provided during the ODI world cup 2023. Also, Pant don't have a very great odi career accept a match winning knock of 125 not out against England while chasing. Instead of Pant we can try Rinku and give him the role of finisher alongside Pandya.

Overall, it is great squad some might feel any xyz player should have been selected but do understand not all players can play. Samson here is again unlucky to not to be included. The inclusion of Khaleel Ahmed suggests that India is always going to keep a left arm pacer in the team. Excited to see what Gambhir as coach is going to do, it will be make it or break it under the Gambhir era. 

T20i squad:

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubhman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi,  Khaleel Ahmed, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj.

Probable 11:

1) Gill

2) Jaiswal

3) Pant

4) Surya

5) Hardik

6) Rinku

7) Axar

8) Washi

9) Bishnoi

10) Siraj

11) Arshdeep

A new t20i setup without Rohit and Virat will play their first match on 27th July against Sri Lanka. Not much analysis on this squad as everyone know their roles in the team and no such new name in the team. The management had a tough call dropping Ruturaj and Abhishek despite their good performance in Zimbabwe tour. 

Do Gill deserve a spot in the T20i team?

Gill is not only selected for the Sri Lanka tour but also named as a Vice Captain. He is getting trolled for his selection in the team. I feel Gill is a good player but in t20i setup his performance is a bit concerning. His strike rate will be the issue in the new era of the T20 cricket. And his captaincy is even more concerning. I would term him as a 'Clueless Captain'. The only thing matter while captaining a T20 side is to manage the field placement and rotate your bowlers well. Agarkar said, "Gill is a three format player, he has shown decent leadership quality and can learn from the Surya, Rohit all moving forward". Ruturaj, on the other hand played well in the Zimbabwe tour but was not selected for Sri Lanka tour. Can team India afford to play Gill as opener in 2026 T20i WC with so many gun openers are already in the list? Abhishek and Jaiswal should be the front runners. 

Surya a good choice for captaincy?

Surya is appointed as a new T20i Captain of India atleast till 2026 world cup. It will be a good chance for him to capitalized this chance. It was a great decision to make Surya captain as he will only play T20 format now, this results into no chance of missing a single match for workload reason. Keen to see how Surya will make use of his bowlers.

That's all from my side. This blog was a bit controversial, if you have to say anything or oppose anything feel free to comment your thoughts.

Thank You, 

Advait Kadam 

(Sports Management student)