Team India will see a lot of youngsters on the field when they take on Sri Lanka in a limited-overs series that starts on July 18th. Players like Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Chetan Sakariya, Nitish Rana have a chance to make their debut in Sri Lanka while the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Prithvi Shaw, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan look to get into the reckoning for a place in the T20 World Cup squad of India.
With so many talented players in the squad, it will be a tough task for head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Shikhar Dhawan to pick the playing XI for the ODIs. Former India batsman VVS Laxman tried to help Dravid and Dhawan as he picked his playing XI for the ODIs against Sri Lanka.
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“Well, it’s a very detailed squad, a 20-man squad. But I will go with Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, the No.3 batsman would be Suryakumar Yadav. At No.4 will be Sanju Samson in ODIs, No.5 will be Manish Pandey, at No.6 I will go with Hardik Pandya, No.7 Krunal Pandya. I will have two fast bowlers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar and two spinners will be Kuldeep and Chahal. This is my ODI XI," Laxman said on Star Sports.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, however, went ahead with Nitish Rana as a batsman in the team in place of Krunal Pandya. Irfan said that if Hardik is able to bowl then India have the luxury of picking another batsman.
{{/usCountry}}Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, however, went ahead with Nitish Rana as a batsman in the team in place of Krunal Pandya. Irfan said that if Hardik is able to bowl then India have the luxury of picking another batsman.
{{/usCountry}}“Only one change I would like, Hardik Pandya is bowling, so I will have him as an all-rounder, one more batsman I will add – Nitish Rana in place of Krunal. Apart from that same, because I will like to see Hardik Pandya bowl quite a few number of overs,” Pathan said.