Virat Kohli has finally been given the break from cricket he had requested as India announced the squad for the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka.
Deputy skipper Rohit Sharma will lead the 15-man squad in the absence of Kohli in the one-day series starting from December 10. Pacer Sidharth Kaul was handed a maiden call-up while Shreyas Iyer was included in the ODI squad for the first-time.
Kohli had commented about the non-stop cricket India’s top players have played over the past two years and had requested the BCCI for a break during the month of December. The 29-year-old has however been included in the squad for the final Test against Sri Lanka.
India are set to depart for an extensive tour of South Africa on December 27, two days after completing their limited overs engagements against Sri Lanka.
#TeamIndia for the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka announced #INDvSL
Rohit (capt), Shikhar, Ajinkya, Shreyas, Manish, Kedar, Dinesh, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik, Axar, Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, Sidharth Kaul pic.twitter.com/w4GWP9weCa
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 27, 2017
Opener Shikhar Dhawan returns to the side for the final Test after being given permission to miss the second match for personal reasons. Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar will miss the final Test after skipping the Nagpur fixture for his impending marriage, but he will be back for the ODI series.
300-Test wickets man Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have once again been ignored for the limited-overs series with Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav retaining their spots.
#TeamIndia for the 3rd and final Test against Sri Lanka announced #INDvSL
Virat (Capt), Vijay, Rahul, Shikhar, Pujara, Rahane (vc) , Rohit, Saha (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Shami, Umesh, Ishant, Vijay Shankar pic.twitter.com/8hgxfTtMXU
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 27, 2017
Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who was rested for the Test series against the islanders, will be back for the one-day series. The selectors were also set to announce India’s squad for the tour of South Africa on Monday but have now taken a last minute call to delay the selection until the culmination of the final Test against Sri Lanka.
INDIA SQUAD FOR FINAL TEST AGAINST SRI LANKA
Virat Kohli (C), M Vijay, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Vijay Shankar
INDIA SQUAD FOR ODI SERIES AGAINST SRI LANKA
Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sidharth Kaul.
