The Gautam Gambhir era in the Indian cricket team has had a very interesting start. The former India cricketer, who is set to begin his coaching duties from the tour of Sri Lanka will have a new leadership group at his helm both in the T20I and in the ODI series.
India announced their white-ball squads on Thursday, 18 July and sprung quite a few surprises. In the T20I squad, the captaincy was handed to Suryakyumar Yadav and not Hardik Pandya – who was Rohit Sharma’s deputy in the triumphant T20 World Cup 2024 run. Abhishek Sharma, who just hit a hundred against Zimbabwe was ignored for the Sri Lanka series, while Riyan Parag was given another chance.
However, it was the ODI squad for the 3-match series that was more interesting, as there was less space to experiment with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli opting to play the series.
INDIA’S ODI SQUAD VS SRI LANKA
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.
Here are some of the takeaways from the ODI squad for the Sri Lanka series
END OF THE ROAD FOR RAVINDRA JADEJA?
After retiring from the T20I format, Ravindra Jadeja would have hoped to extend his career in the other two formats of the game. However, the 35-year-old, has been snubbed from the ODI side and four all-rounders have been added in his stead.
Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, and Riyan Parag bring in diverse skillset in the ODI set-up and can be used interchangeably based on the conditions. If this was just a series that Jadeja was going to be rested in, why did India bring in 4 options for the same spot?
HARDIK PANDYA AXED FROM LEADERSHIP
The squad for the Sri Lanka series is especially hard on Hardik Pandya. Not only has he been removed from captaincy in the T20I format, he has been officially removed from the leadership group as well.
Instead of Pandya, Shubman Gill has been handed the ODI and T20I vice-captaincy in a bid to learn from the seniors of the team.
It has not been clarified, just yet, as to why the move was made. Was it Pandya, who wanted a lighter workload amidst his tumultuous personal life? Or was it the BCCI who wanted to tame the all-rounder full of swagger and defiance?
WHERE ARE RINKU SINGH, SANJU SAMSON?
Sanju Samson hit a century in his last ODI outing against South Africa. Sanju earned the player of the match award in that game, and helped India win the series. With the Champions Trophy set to be played in 2025, one has to question, why does Sanju Samson keeps finding it hard to settle his place in any format of the Indian team?
Rinku Singh did not make it to the ODI side as well. The left-hander went from one of the first names in the T20I team to not getting a chance in the T20 World Cup. One would have thought that after the World Cup cycle, the Indian selectors would give a chance to Rinku owing to his terrific List A record, but that has not quite happened yet.
Rinku has 1899 runs at an average of 48.69 in List A cricket and surely he merited a chance ahead of Riyan Parag in the side.
FAITH IN WASHINGTON SUNDAR
Washington Sundar’s career has been marred by injuries in the recent years. In his comeback with the Indian team, Washi bowled brilliantly in Zimbabwe. For the first time in his international career, the fans saw Washi flight and turn the ball instead of rushing the batter with his pace and bounce.
He has been rewarded for his performances in Africa and this could be the start of a beautiful journey if Washi can stay fit.
SURYAKUMAR STORY ENDS IN ODIS?
India captain Rohit Sharma and previous head coach Rahul Dravid had given a long ODI rope to Suryakumar Yadav in the ODI format before the World Cup 2023. However, Suryakumar never quite cracked the code in the format.
The Suryakumar experiment seems to have come to an end as Gambhir and the selection panel have made a clear demarcation between the T20I and ODI formats. While Surya is the captain of the T20I side, he has not been named in the ODI squad at all.