Team India senior stars Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul have not been picked for the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka starting early January. The BCCI hasn’t provided any reason on the troika’s absence from the T20I squad though.
Several reports though suggested that Rohit has not fully recovered from a thumb injury he sustained during the Bangladesh tour while Kohli has asked for a short break.
However, a report in news agency PTI suggested that the BCCI has started the ‘phasing out’ period as the star trio might not be picked again in the shortest format keeping the 2024 T20 World Cup in mind.
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Allrounder Hardik Pandya has been named the captain for the T20I series against Sri Lanka and in-form Suryakumar Yadav will be his his deputy for the three matches.
Meanwhile, flamboyant wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant failed to find a place in both the squads. A press release from BCCI doesn’t mention whether he has been rested or dropped.
According to a report, Pant has been asked to report at the National Cricket Academy for a knee-strengthening rehabilitation programme for two weeks. Hence, he will miss the entire Sri Lanka series.
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Shikhar Dhawan, one of India’s contemporary white ball greats, has perhaps played his last match for the country after a prolonged bad patch which finds him ousted from the national ODI set-up. He failed to find a place in the series against Sri Lanka as young Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan were preferred.
Ironically, even one series before Bangladesh, he was leading the side in New Zealand but his dismal drop in scoring rate and also not being able to string a series of consistent scores have gone against him.
(With Agency Inputs)
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