The India team for the third Test against Sri Lanka and the three-match ODI series has been announced. There are no major changes in the Test team, but Virat Kohli has been rested for the ODI series and Rohit Sharma will lead Team India in the ODIs.
The Men in Blue have been a dominant team under the leadership of Kohli, and it remains to be seen if Rohit can lead it to such wins in the ODI series.
The selectors' decision to rest Kohli does not come as a surprise, with the Delhi man having played continuous cricket for the past 12 months or so.
BCCI might want him to stay fresh for the tough away tours scheduled for 2018, which start with the upcoming trip to South Africa.
Besides this change, pacer Siddarth Kaul has also made it to the Indian ODI team. India may be without their run-machine, Kohli, but they have a wonderful squad with regulars like Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Also Read: India's likely squad for SA tour
The three-match ODI series between India and Sri Lanka is scheduled to begin on December 10 in Dharamsala and end on December 17 in Visakhapatnam.
The selectors have once again ignored Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina for the limited-overs series. The former was reportedly at the NCA to improve his fitness and get into the national team. Now one can safely say it was mission unaccomplished.
Coming to the ongoing Test series, where India have already taken a 1-0 lead, Shikhar Dhawan, who missed the second Test, has made a comeback for the third Test, which will take place in his hometown, Delhi.
The rest of the Test squad is the same as the second Test.
However, the Test squad for the South Africa tour, which was supposed to be announced today, has been postponed. It will only be announced after the third Test in Delhi.
India squad for the third Test: Virat Kohli (Captain), M Vijay, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-Captain), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Vijay Shankar
India squad for the ODI series: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul
