In July, the Indian cricket team will play a six-match limited-overs series in Sri Lanka. Since the majority of the key players will be in England for the Test series against the hosts, the team is likely to be made up of inexperienced players looking to make the most of their first international opportunity.
In the meantime, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has selected his chosen 17-man squad, with opener Shikhar Dhawan leading the charge. He chose Prithvi Shaw as the second opener and batsman Shreyas Iyer to round out the lineup.
“Shikhar Dhawan the captain because we have seen in the last two years that he is upgrading his software and batting with great responsibility. Along with him, I am picking Prithvi Shaw. The form we have seen from him, I feel he should be the front-runner in this race,” said Chopra in his latest YouTube video.
“After that Shreyas Iyer if he is available. There is a talk of him playing county cricket but it would be better if you keep him for the six encounters here. Then Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan, although Mumbai Indians dropped him halfway through,” he added.
Chopra also appointed Hardik Pandya as the team’s vice-captain and the Pandya brothers to manage the lower middle-order responsibilities.
My vice-captain will be Hardik Pandya. Then there was Krunal Pandya. He also did well in the last ODI series against England,” Chopra said.
Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Navdeep Saini were chosen as the frontline pacers by Chopra. Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, and Varun Chakravarthy were called to share the spin duties.
“After that Yuzi Chahal. Deepak Chahar whose performances have been outstanding with the white-ball. He should be given a chance in ODIs as well. If Bhuvi and he bowl together, our powerplay problem of not taking wickets can also be sorted out.
“Navdeep Saini has also been kept in cold storage. Neither India is playing him nor RCB. But I will keep him in my team because he was part of the team when India went to Australia and played a Test match also,” Chopra said.
“There is a question mark about T Natarajan’s injury. But if he is fit, he will go of course. Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy are the two extra spinners I have kept. I have also given place to Prasidh Krishna in my team,” he further added.
Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda have been named as the reserve batsmen for the tour, according to the former cricketer.
Both Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda are players I will hold. Sanju Samson has been playing excellent cricket and has already scored a century this year. Deepak Hooda has shown that he can bat at No. 6 or No. 7 and bowl a bit of off-spin,” Chopra added.
