India’s strongest XI: The recent T20I series against West Indies was the second T20I series in a row where India whitewashed the opponent under the leadership of the new captain Rohit Sharma and now as they go into their next T20I series against Sri Lanka, the men in blue would want to keep their streak going.
It’s a quick turnaround for team India, as they have already flown from Kolkata to Lucknow, where the T20I series against Sri Lanka gets underway in a couple of days.
Here is India’s strongest XI for the first T20I against Sri Lanka –
Openers (Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan)
Although these two young openers failed to make a mark in the opportunities that they got against West Indies, but the Indian head coach Rahul Dravid made it clear even yesterday that the youngsters will get further opportunities.
With Virat Kohli not in the squad for the T20I games against Sri Lanka, Rohit Sharma might continue to bat in the middle order and Ruturaj and Ishan might continue to open the batting.
Middle Order (Shreyas Iyer, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer)
Shreyas Iyer has had to warm the bench in the recent T20I games, but he got an opportunity in the last game against West Indies and he batted with the right tempo at no. 3. He is most likely to be persisted with and Rohit Sharma will bat at no. 4 to hold the innings together.
Suryakumar Yadav and Venkatesh Iyer seem to have been identified as the finishers by the Indian management and will occupy the no. 5 and the no. 6 position respectively.
Allrounders (Ravindra Jadeja, Harshal Patel)
Ravindra Jadeja has recovered from injury and is back into the squad. He will be India’s premier allrounder batting at no. 7 now. Harshal will be someone who will not just be one of the designated death bowlers, but will also be an option with the bat for India down the order, as he can play a few shots.
Bowlers (Jasprit Bumrah, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan)
Bishnoi showed in the T20I series against West Indies that he can be India’s X-factor in the shortest format of the game going forward. He might now be India’s first-choice leg spinner ahead of Chahal. Jasprit Bumrah is an automatic selection and walks straight into India’s strongest XI, as he returns after a break of a few weeks. Avesh Khan will also get another opportunity despite proving to be expensive in his debut game against West Indies.
