Virat Kohli Rested For SL ODI Series, Dhawan Returns For 3rd Test
India play Sri Lanka in 3 ODIs and 3 T20s.
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Days after India skipper Virat Kohli hit out at the BCCI for the team’s cramped schedule ahead of the crucial South Africa tour in January, the BCCI selection committee elected to rest the 29-year-old batsman for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, starting 10 December.
The BCCI, however, retained Kohli’s services for the third and final Test against Sri Lanka starting 2 December in Delhi.
In Kohli’s absence, Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian ODI squad. Punjab pacer Siddarth Kaul replaces him in the team sheet.
The ODI series will also see the return of all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who was given a break for the ongoing three-match Test series against the Lankans.
Before the start of the second Test in Nagpur, which India won by an innings and 239 runs within three and a half days, Kohli criticised the board for leaving very less time to prepare for a challenging tour.
"As usual cramped for time, which I think we needed to assess in future as well because we very easily assess the team when we go abroad but we don't look at how many days we have got to prepare before we go to a particular place to play," Kohli had said.
India will finish their limited overs matches against Sri Lanka on 24 December (final T20I) before they fly off to South Africa on 28 December, with the first Test starting on 5 January. They play a two-day warm-up tie, starting on 30 December at Boland Park, Paarl.
In South Africa, the Kohli-led side will play three Tests, five One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).
India squad for the third Test: Virat Kohli (Captain), M Vijay, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-Captain), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Vijay Shankar
India squad for the ODI series: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul.
(With inputs from IANS)
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