India announces T20I and ODI squads vs SL: Hardik Pandya to lead T20I squad: Pant and Dhawan dropped
However, there have been a lot of changes in both series. Starting with the captaincy, Hardik Pandya will be leading the T20I side, and Suryakumar Yadav will be his deputy. This is the second consecutive series that Hardik will be seen leading the T20Is.
The T20I squad is full of youngsters, with all the seniors not part of the team. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are not in the shorter format. India has named two new players to the team.
Shivam Mavi and Mukesh Kumar have gotten their maiden T20I calls, while Ruturaj Gaikwad is also back in the T20I side. It seems that the Indian management is on its way to preparing for the 2024 T20 World Cup by giving chances to the new players.
On the other hand, the biggest name to miss the ODI squad is veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan, who was captaining the team in the absence of seniors. It seems that this is the end of the road for Dhawan, and he might not make it to the team.
Meanwhile, Pant has been dropped from both squads, which is another notable point. Virat and Rahul are back in ODIs, and Rohit will be captain. Interestingly, despite Rahul's presence in the squad, the BCCI has given the duties of vice captain to Hardik.
It suggests that the management is looking at Hardik as India's next white-ball captain. The ODI series will begin on January 10 in Guwahati, with the second and third ODIs to be played on January 12 and 15, respectively.
India’s T20I squad vs SL: Hardik Pandya (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Sanju Samson, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umran Malik, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar.
Indian ODI squad vs SL: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Mohd. Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.