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Cricket Players'He can be given experience at the helm': Former India all-rounder names candidate to captain India against Sri Lanka
Former cricketer Reetinder Singh Sodhi said the all-rounder has enough experience to take charge of a second Indian team during the three-match ODI and three-match T20I series.
As announced by BCCI President Sourav Ganguly earlier this week, India will tour Sri Lanka to play a limited-overs series. The board will field a completely different squad from the one that will travel to England, which means one can expect to see a few experienced members from the country alongside numerous youngsters and uncapped players. One question, as the squad is yet to be announced, is who will captain the side? Former India cricketer Reetinder Singh Sodhi believes Hardik Pandya could be the right man.
Speaking to India News, Sodhi said the Baroda all-rounder has enough experience to take charge of a second Indian team during the three-match ODI and three-match T20I series.
"Who will captain - Hardik Pandya? I feel he can be given experience at the helm because he has played very good cricket. The best thing is we have so many options that we can put together a second Indian team," said Sodhi.
"One team will be playing Test cricket, Virat Kohli and his boys. And the other team will have the likes of Hardik Pandya and Chahal, and aspirants like Devdutt Padikkal and Ravi Bishnoi can get chances. So, it is a very good move by Sourav Ganguly and the BCCI. This tour can prove to be the ace in the pack before the T20 World Cup," added Reetinder Sodhi.
As speculated by many pundits and experts, this tour will present a great opportunity for the likes of Chetan Sakariya and Ravi Bishnoi to make their senior team debuts.
"Generally, we don't have two Indian teams picked. These players could have played for India after a while but they will get an immediate chance now to get the India cap and to fulfill their dreams," said Reetinder Sodhi.
Sodhi also added that Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who will be involved in the preparations for the five-match Test series against England at the time, will be on the lookout for a handful of T20 World Cup prospectives, which is scheduled to take place later this year.
"This tour will be a blessing for all these youngsters. It is possible selectors might be eyeing guys like Harpreet Brar. So, Virat Kohli will be putting in the hard yards in England but his eyes will also be in Sri Lanka because he will definitely want to judge which other players can be considered for the T20 World Cup," concluded Reetinder Sodhi.
