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After a triumph against the West Indies in the ODI series, the Indian team is all set to start their new year with a 3-match T20I series against Sri Lanka at home.
There’s one big news coming though, i.e, India’s limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma is all set to skip the upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka which will commence from January 5th in Guwahati. This would be team India’s first assignment of the year 2020.
“The selectors normally don’t give rest to anyone in the T20 team, but Rohit has been on the road for quite a while now. He has informed the Board that he wants to take rest for this series,” a source in the Board told TOI.
However, he has made himself available for the 3 ODIs against Australia which will follow up this series. The first ODI will be played at the Wankhede on January 14th followed by games in Rajkot and Bengaluru on 17th and 19th January respectively.
Swashbuckling left-hand opener Shikhar Dhawan has recovered from a knee injury which he sustained in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019 and is expected to fill in for his long-time opening partner.
If he returns, he will be partnering KL Rahul at the top who was on a song in the recently concluded limited-overs series against West Indies.
However, the squad for the series is yet to be announced and the selectors will be announcing the same on 26th December.
Shikhar Dhawan’s return will open the floodgate for Rohit’s omission, however, Jasprit Bumrah’s big return still remains under the clouds as he is nursing a lower back injury which kept him out of action for the last 4 months. Not only Bumrah, but Bhuvnehswar’s absence is also a jolt for the team.
“Jasprit has been pronounced fit by the experts who treated him, and the selectors want to pick him for the Lanka series, but the problem is that the NCA hasn’t cleared him. The selectors will have to wait for the BCCI to give them a clear picture on Jasprit before picking him,” said the source.
1st T20I: January 05th at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati
2nd T20I: January 07th at the Holkar Stadium, Indore
3rd T20I: January 10th at the MCA Stadium, Pune