Gautam Gambhir, the new head coach of the Indian cricket team, will be getting his first experience of coaching on the tour of Sri Lanka. The team will be picked in the next few days as India has got 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is to play in Sri Lanka, and there are some surprises in order. According to sources in the setup KL Rahul is likely to be garnered and be offered the ODI captaincy for the Sri Lanka tour. The move comes after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been rested after representing the Indian team at the T20 World Cup 2024.
Gambhir and the Indian team’s selection panel will meet for the first time on the turf later this week. It was learned that Gambhir is interested in selecting separate leaders for each form of the game. In the ODI format, KL Rahul’s name is doing the rounds, as he has captained India earlier in white-ball cricket as well. For the T20Is, it is expected that Hardik Pandya will lead his country’s side, as he was vice-captain to World Cup winning captain Rohit Sharma.
It is anticipated that a new phase in the reigns of Gambhir will soon start as Rohit, Kohli as well as Ravindra Jadeja have called time on their T20I careers with India. Jasprit Bumrah has also been given a break from the Sri Lanka Series following his performance in the World Cup victory over the USA and West Indies, just like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The BCCI had wanted the senior nationals to rest fully before an upcoming home season for India that begins in September.
According to a reliable top source in BCCI , Hardik and KL should be given the captain responsibilities in the absence of Rohit. They both have experience as captains. “If Hardik doesn’t play T20 then Suryakumar Yadav could be the captain for T20 and Rahul for ODIs. However currently it looks like Hardik and KL will be the team skippers,” the same source concluded.
The Sri Lanka tour will begin on the 27th of July and the third T20I is slated to be played on the 30th of July. Besides, a 3-match ODI series is set to commence on the 2nd of August and will run for 5 days till 7th.
