(Cricket news) After the disappointing loss against Bangladesh, India now look to get back on track as they host Sri Lanka. With the World Cup coming this year India are looking to build a formidable squad. The tournament is at their home which is a big advantage therefore these matches will be excellent preparation for the players. Gawahati, Kolkata and Trivandrum are the venues for the 3 matches. India’s performance in Bangladesh was nowhere near standard and the men in blue need to bounce back in this series.

India’s squad for the 3 ODIs against Sri Lanka:

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (VC), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.

The biggest takeaway from the squad is that Shikhar Dhawan, who was stand-in captain for a number of series in the past couple of years has been dropped. His perfomances had not been up to the mark and the decision is understandable considering the form of other openers Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill. Having said that, Dhawan has won so many ODI matches for India. The management could’ve backed him for a couple of more series. The World Cup dream is still not over for him as there is still time to make a comeback. 

KL Rahul has been removed from the position of vice captain. The selectors have decided to make Hardik Pandya the vice captain presumably to groom him as the next leader. Rahul’s demotion definitely has something to do with his form across formats. The right hander desperately needs to score runs and that too on a consistent basis. Pandya’s leadership skills have already been displayed and he can definitely be trusted to step in when required. Rohit Sharma is back from his injury but even he needs to find a way to score consistently.

Shardul Thakur is another surprising absentee as he has been performing well in ODIs. There is no place in the squad for Kuldeep Sen, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal, Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson, Shahbaz Ahmed. Rishabh Pant has a minor injury which keeps him out of the squad. Deepak Chahar and Prasidh Krishna are also yet to recover from their injuries. Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah are still not fit enough while Mohammed Shami is back.

Also read: India to play 3 T20Is against Sri Lanka with a 2nd string team