Last Updated: December 25, 2022, 19:55 IST
Hardik Pandya last played for India during the New Zealand tour.
Regular captain Rohit Sharma is nursing a thumb injury and is unlikely to get fit for the Sri Lanka T20Is
With the conclusion of the Bangladesh tour after a tense three-wicket win in the 2nd Test today, focus of the Indian team will now quickly shift towards a busy home season that starts with a T20I series against Sri Lanka from January 3rd next year.
However, a vital development seems to have been made public before an official announcement thanks to a promo for the upcoming India-Sri Lanka series released by official broadcasters Star Sports hours after the 2nd Test ended.
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The BCCI is yet to name India’s T20I squad for the three matches against Sri Lanka but in the aforementioned promo, Hardik Pandya plays the starring role and it concludes with the allrounder featuring alongside Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka.
This is all but a confirmation that Pandya may be named captain for the series with earlier reports claiming that regular skipper Rohit Sharma is still not certain to get fit in time for the series.
Rohit is nursing a thumb injury he picked during the second ODI against Bangladesh earlier this month following which he flew home missing the remainder of the tour. In his absence, KL Rahul led in the final ODI and also performed the captaincy duties in the two-match Test series as well.
Sri Lanka will be in India for a limited-overs tour comprising three T20Is between January 3 and January 7 followed by three ODIs between January 10 and January 15.
As per news agency PTI, the old selection committee led by Chetan Sharma will in all likeliness announce the India squad for the T20Is.
“The old committee will probably select the Sri Lanka white ball squad,” a BCCI source privy to development told the agency.
The committee though was sacked days after India’s semifinal exit from the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
“Chetan and his committee are still watching domestic cricket. They watched the full Vijay Hazare Trophy and also the first two rounds of Ranji Trophy. Debasish Mohanty was present at Eden Gardens to watch Bengal vs Himachal Pradesh. Basically, they got a two-month extension till December 25,” the official said.
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