Indian Team Update- India will face off against New Zealand in the ICC World Test Championship final at Southampton From June 19 to June 22. Then, they will face off against England in the five-match Test series in England. The series will start on August 4 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
There is a gap of one month between the WTC final and the Test series against England. So, people thought that the BCCI will host the remainder of IPL 2021 in this window. However, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has confirmed that the Indian Cricket Team will travel to Sri Lanka. They will take part in a three-match ODI series and a five-match T20I series in the Island nation.
In the meantime, the BCCI will send a completely different limited-overs team to Sri Lanka for those matches. The reason is that it will not be possible for the players participating in the WTC final and the five-match Test series against England, to play the WTC final, then come to Sri Lanka and play the limited-overs series and then again travel to England.
Sourav Ganguly told Sportstar that India will play a new and separate limited-overs team against Sri Lanka
Ganguly stated that the BCCI has planned a separate limited-overs team to play against Sri Lanka in that series. The team will consist of white ball specialists and will be a different team.
“We have planned a white-ball series for the senior men’s team during the month of July where they will play T20 Internationals and ODIs in Sri Lanka. Yes, it will be a team of white-ball specialists. It will be a different team.”
What the source told PTI about the Indian team?
The regular senior players in the team with the likes of Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and others will be present in England for the Test matches. So, it will open the doors for a bunch of new players who will be rearing to play for India. BCCI wants all the Test players to use that one month window in between to prepare and accustom themselves to the English conditions for the upcoming five-match Test series against England.
“The BCCI president is very keen that all our top players are match ready. we can use the month of July since England does not have a white ball leg.”
Shikhar Dhawan may lead a young and inexperienced side against Sri Lanka
Meanwhile, speculations and reports say that India’s veteran ODI opener Shikhar Dhawan will be the captain of a new, young and inexperienced limited-overs team against Sri Lanka for the limited-overs matches. Either Ishan Kishan or Sanju Samson will don the wicketkeeping gloves for India in that series in the absence of Rishabh Pant.
This will be a great opportunity for the young players. Those who have performed consistently well in the domestic tournaments and the IPL. They were rearing to play for India. They will get the window to showcase their performance and earn a permanent spot in India’s main senior team. Now, it remains to be seen what squad BCCI selects for the series against Sri Lanka.
