The upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka isn’t just a meaningless bilateral for India. The 3 matches slated to be played in Colombo will have a bigger purpose. It’ll be a test for new head coach Gautam Gambhir and perfect preparation for the next ICC event, the Champions Trophy 2025.
As of now, Team India is scheduled to play just 6 ODIs before the 50-over tournament starts next February. This means that finding your perfect XI is essential. This was one of the reasons why Gambhir wanted both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to return to international cricket.
India’s ODI team is more or less settled. Still, with three sure-shot starters (Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, and Mohammed Shami) not present in the squad for Sri Lanka, some players have an opportunity to throw their hat into the ring.
Rohit-Gill-Kohli: Top 3 settled
Rohit and Kohli were the highest run-scorers of the ODI World Cup 2023. You can make the case that they are the best ODI players in the world at the moment. They were called by Gambhir for the series and will feature in all three matches. Shubman Gill, who’s been recently made white-ball vice-captain, will naturally start. His astonishing numbers show that he’s on course to become the next white-ball great from India. Gill has the second-highest ODI average of all time and is the fastest player to reach 2000 runs and the second fastest to 1000 runs.
No place for Pant & Parag
Despite making the team ahead of Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant won’t find a place in India’s Playing XI for the Sri Lanka ODI series. With KL Rahul already present in the middle-order as a more than proficient wicketkeeper, it won’t make much sense to include the southpaw. Riyan Parag, who’s been batting at 4 in ODIs, won’t find a place either since Shreyas Iyer and Rahul were excellent in the ODI World Cup and have made the 3rd and 4th spots their own.
Dube-Axar-Sundar: 3 all-rounders
In the last 12 months, Team India has preferred playing at least two all-rounders in white-ball cricket. In the recent T20 World Cup, the Men in Blue often fielded four all-rounders. Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir are expected to do the same in Sri Lanka. Two spin bowling all-rounders, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar, will start considering spin-friendly pitches. Since Hardik Pandya won’t play in ODIs, Shivam Dube will play in his place.
No debut for Harshit
Harshit Rana showed great promise in the IPL 2024 season but won’t make the cut on spin-friendly Sri Lankan pitches. Rohit Sharma would likely field just two pacers. Mohammed Siraj will be the leader of the pack in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, and Arshdeep Singh will start after his incredible display in the T20 World Cup. Due to Arshdeep’s ability to swing the ball and excellent death-bowling prowess, Khaleel Ahmed won’t make a return to ODIs after 5 years either. Meanwhile, the lone specialist spinner in the squad, Kuldeep Yadav, will walk into the side as the world’s best all-format spinner at the moment.
Probable India ODI Playing XI vs Sri Lanka
Rohit Sharma (c), Ꮪhubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj.
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