BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has confirmed that batting legend Rahul Dravid will be the coach for India’s limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka next month. While an India Test squad will be preparing for a five-match series in England, at the same time, limited-overs specialists will take on Sri Lanka in six white-ball matches.
“Rahul Dravid will be the coach for the India tour to Sri Lanka,” Ganguly told The Indian Express.
The limited-overs squad will be led by Shikhar Dhawan with several players getting their maiden India call-ups including Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Rana, K Gowtham and Chetan Sakariya. They will be part of three ODIs and as many T20Is during the tour.
It will also provide the limited-overs specialists with a chance to lay their claim for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup which India is to host later this year in October.
Meanwhile, BCCI has written to the Indian government for tax exemption for the T20 World Cup and a decision regarding whether the tournament stays in India, will be taken soon.
“We have written to Indian government on tax exemption. We are awaiting for their response. We still have time. The board will take decision on it soon," Ganguly said.
There are question-marks over whether the marquee event will be staged in India or not owing to the coronavirus situation in the country. The IPL 2021 was suspended midway through the season early May when cases began cropping up inside the team bubbles.
The remainder of the T20 league will now be conducted in the UAE in September.
There are unconfirmed reports that the BCCI and ICC have already started charting out plans to hold T20 world cup qualifiers in Oman while the main even could also be held in UAE.
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