The selectors of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will meet on Thursday to announce the squad for India's tour of Sri Lanka, which is scheduled to start from 12 August.
India will play a three-match Test series against Sri Lanka. Virat Kohli is set to resume his captaincy and most of the senior players, who were rested for the Zimbabwe tour, are likely to be back into the Test squad.
The selectors are likely to announce a 15 or 16-member squad for this upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. A five-member committee headed by former India cricketer Sandeep Patil will be discussing the possibility of a third specialist spinner.
Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan are automatic choices for the opening slot followed by Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma. The selectors are likely to face a dilemma over the No. 3 position. It will depend upon how Cheteshwar Pujara and KL Rahul perform against Australia A in the ongoing unofficial four-day Test series in Chennai. But both these batsmen are likely to be picked for the tour.
Wriddhiman Saha is also an automatic selection for this tour as a wicket-keeper batsman after MS Dhoni hung his boots from the longer format of the game. But there might be a possibility that Naman Ojha or Sanju Samson might be picked as the 16th member in the squad for the tour of Sri Lanka.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh are likely to lead the spin attack for India. The two spinners were impressive in the one-off Test against Bangladesh last month. Axar Patel or Amit Mishra might be roped in as the third spinning option. Mishra came into the picture beacuse of Karn Sharma, who sustained an injury and was ruled out of the Zimbabwe tour.
Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma are likely to take care of the pace attack. If Varun Aaron recovers from his illness, he also might add to the pace option.
India's Probable Squad for Sri Lanka Tour: Virat Kohli (C), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Axar Patel/Amit Mishra, Varun Aaron, Sanju Samson/Naman Ojha.
