Rohit to lead India in ODI series against Sri Lanka; Iyer, KL Rahul make comeback

Colombo [Sri Lanka], July 18 (ANI): Rohit Sharma will lead Team India for the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka, as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad on Thursday.

Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul made comebacks in the ODI squad for the Men in Blue’s upcoming series against Sri Lanka.

Shreyas Iyer, who was omitted from the BCCI central contract, was also named in the ODI squad. Iyer, recently led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to victory in the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) under the mentorship of Gautam Gambhir, who is on his first assignment as head coach of Team India.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who announced their retirement from T20 cricket, will be seen playing together in the 50-over series.

Shubman Gill was also named Rohit Sharma’s deputy in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, Riyan Parag and Harshit Rana received their maiden call-ups to the ODI squad.

The India’s tour of Sri Lanka will be starting from July 27 onwards. The tour will kick-start with a three-match T20I series, followed by a three-match ODI series, which will start from August 2.

The Pallekele International Stadium will be hosting the T20I leg of the series while the R Premadasa is getting to host the 50-over matches, as per ESPNCricinfo.

The three ODIs will be held on August 2, August 4, and August 7.

Both teams will be taking to the field with new head coaches. While legendary all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya has been named as the interim head coach for Lankan Lions, this will also be the first assignment for former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir as the head coach, succeeding the T20 World Cup-winning coach Rahul Dravid.

India’s last tour of Sri Lanka for a bilateral white-ball series came back in July 2021, with Dravid coaching the Shikhar Dhawan-led side. India won the ODI series 2-1, while Sri Lanka secured the T20I series by the same margin.

ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), duhubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.