IND vs SL: The India vs Sri Lanka series commences on January 3, 2023. Keeping the upcoming series in mind, the BCCI has announced both the T20I and ODI squads. Interestingly there have been numerous changes that nobody saw coming. The recent squad selection certainly hints at Hardik Pandya being groomed as India's next white ball captain. The Gujarat Titans skipper has been assigned the captaincy duties for the T20Is, whereas in the ODI format, Hardik has been made the vice-captain of the team. Surprisingly, KL Rahul has been picked up in the ODI squad, but Hardik has been preferred over Rahul.
Hardik Pandya has suddenly emerged as India's next white ball captain. Earlier this year, Pandya led his franchise Gujarat Titans to an IPL trophy victory and the rest is history. He led India in Ireland and as well as in New Zealand. Team India suffered a heartbreak at the hands of Jos Buttler's England in the semi-final of the T20I World Cup and after that, it was reported that the BCCI is eyeing some massive changes, atleast as far as the T20I team is concerned. The World Cup is just 10 months away now and Hardik Pandya being appointed as the vice-captain is certainly a big step towards the future.
Dinesh Karthik picks his skipper for the 2023 ODI World Cup
Over sometime it felt as if the BCCI was rotating the captains to manage the workload. We saw many players as the India captain, be it Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, or Hardik Pandya, but as of now, there are only two players in contention. The margin between Hardik and Rohit is a pretty close one and both of them are superstars, there is no doubt about that. I feel that in the 2023 World Cup, Rohit will be the captain and Hardik Pandya will be the vice-captain.
India will start with their preparations for the 2023 ODI World Cup and they might have certainly taken out valuable lessons from their defeat in the 2022 T20 World Cup that was played in Australia. With the changing dynamics in Indian cricket, nobody can predict about who will lead India in the upcoming ICC event.
India’s squad for Sri Lanka T20Is: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (VC), Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar.
India’s squad for Sri Lanka ODIs: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (VC), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.
