The Indian team for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka has been announced. Team India will play three ODIs and three T20 matches in Sri Lanka next month under the captaincy of Shikhar Dhawan. For this tour, the BCCI has named a 20-member squad, with fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar as vice-captain.
Due to injuries, Shreyas Iyer will miss the Sri Lanka tour. Jaydev Unadkat and Rahul Tewatia have not been included in the squad, though five net bowlers have also been added to the Indian team.
BCCI has also selected a 20-man team for a five-match Test series against England in August. That is to say, Unadkat and Teotia are not among India’s top 40 players.
Unadkat, the 29-year-old fast bowler, made his Test debut against South Africa in 2010. This left-arm bowler has also represented India in seven One-Day Internationals and ten Twenty-20 Internationals. However, he has not been a part of the national team since 2018.
In both first-class and T20 cricket, Unadkat has a stellar record. In 89 first-class matches, this bowler took 327 wickets, and in 150 T20 matches, he took 182 wickets. He also bagged 67 wickets in the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy, leading Saurashtra to win their maiden Ranji title.
Unadkat collected four wickets in four games for Rajasthan Royals during the first leg of the IPL 2021. Instead of Unadkat, Indian selectors have expressed faith in Chetan Sakariya.
Unadkat recently stated in an interview that he sees himself at the height of his career in the next three to four years. At the same time, the Indian team selectors’ apathy will not prevent him from exceeding his potential.
“I believed it was right when I didn’t receive a place in the team against Australia, since then everyone in the team was fit,” Unadkat said. However, after the majority of the players were injured and cricketers were given a chance in their places, I understood that I should have been given a chance as well, he added.
Unadkat was expecting to be selected in Team India for the five-match Test series against England, however, he was not even selected as the standby player.
Tevatia was selected in Team India only three months ago
The performances of Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Rahul Tewatia in IPL 2020 drew a lot of attention. As a result, Tewatia was named for a five-match T20 series against England in March this year. Although this leg-spinner was never given the opportunity to play a single match. Tewatia’s form in the IPL subsequently deteriorated. Only two wickets were taken by him in the first seven matches of IPL 2021.
All-rounders Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya have been picked in the squad, while leg-spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Rahul Chahar have been given a chance. Chahal is India’s regular T20 and ODI bowler, and Chahar has bowled well in the IPL so far.
India’s tour of Sri Lanka
India and Sri Lanka will play three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty-20 Internationals (T20Is). The first ODI of the series will be played on July 13, followed by the second on July 16 and the third on July 18. After that, on July 21, Team India will play the first match in the T20 series. The second match will take place on July 23, and the third T20 match will take place on July 25. All matches will be held in Colombo’s Premadasa Stadium.
Team India for Sri Lanka tour - Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Rituraj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Krishnappa Gautam, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakraborty, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, and Chetan Sakaria.
Net Bowlers- Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, and Simarjit Singh.
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