Rohit Sharma is ready to participate in the One Day International series against Sri Lanka and will also be the team captain, according to a report from Hindustan Times. Previously, there were rumors that Rohit, along with Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, might skip the whole Sri Lanka tour, with KL Rahul potentially taking over as the ODI captain for the series. But the report states that Rohit will indeed play, while Virat and Bumrah will take a longer break after continuously playing cricket. India will only play six ODIs before the 2025 Champions Trophy, and the report suggests this is a major factor in Rohit’s decision to play. This series will also mark Gautam Gambhir’s first time as the head coach of the Indian team.
The leadership of the T20I team is still being debated, with Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav both being considered strong candidates. News reports suggest that Suryakumar Yadav has an edge in this competition because the team’s leaders are worried about Hardik’s ongoing fitness issues.
Suryakumar Yadav has unexpectedly become a leading candidate to lead India’s T20 team until the 2026 World Cup and could potentially surpass Hardik Pandya, who was previously thought to be the obvious choice for the captaincy after serving as vice-captain.
Pandya agreed to play in the shorter games against Sri Lanka this month, but it turns out that Suryakumar, who led India in eight T20 matches against Australia and South Africa last year, is the favorite choice of the new head coach, Gautam Gambhir, and the chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar.
We found out that both Gambhir and Agarkar talked to Pandya earlier today about this change and told him they are choosing a long-term leader to make sure everything stays stable.
The position of T20 captain became available after Rohit Sharma retired from international T20 cricket after India won the World Cup in the West Indies last month.
Pandya, who played a key role in that win, will not participate in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka because of personal reasons. The T20 matches against Sri Lanka will take place from July 27 to 30 in Pallekele, and the ODIs will follow from August 2 to 7 in Colombo.
The team for the upcoming matches will likely be revealed in the next few days.
