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Cricket Players'Will walk into India's first-choice T20 team': Manjrekar doesn't want squad for SL tour to be called 'second-string'
Although India's squad for the tour of Sri Lanka is yet to be announced, Sanjay Manjrekar is against the idea of the squad travelling to Lanka being called a 'second-string' squad.
Although India's squad for the tour of Sri Lanka is yet to be announced, Sanjay Manjrekar is against the idea of the squad travelling to Lanka being called a 'second-string' squad. The likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, along with several other senior players will be in England, where they will play the World Test Championship final in June, followed by a five-Test series against the hosts starting august.
In July, another Indian team will be facing Sri Lanka in three ODIs and three T20Is. With several fringe players in the mix, this notion that India will be fielding a 'second-string' is not something Manjrekar agrees with, believing the players in contention are good enough to star in India's first-choice T20I team.
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"If India were fielding two teams of same format you would call the team touring SL second string. A lot of players selected for the SL tour will walk into India's first choice T20 team. Team in England is for Tests. Team for SL is for T20s," Manjrekar tweeted.
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This is first time in the history of international cricket that two separate teams from one country would be playing different tournaments in two different parts of the world around the same time. As the Kohli-led India look to win the WTC final against New Zealand and then take on England for a long Test series, the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav among others are expected to be included in the list of players that will play the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka.
Nothing is concrete at the moment, but reports suggest that Rahul Dravid, the NCA chief, will look after the team in Sri Lanka, serving as its coach. With head coach Ravi Shastri in England, along with bowling coach Bharat Arun and batting coach Vikram Rathour, Dravid along with some other NCA members are expected to take charge of the Indian team in SL.
