India to visit Sri Lanka for Gambhir’s first tour as coach: A detailed preview for the 3-match T20I series
After winning the 5-match T20I series against Zimbabwe under the leadership of Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav has been appointed as Rohit Sharma’s permanent successor as the captain of the Indian team under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir who will be taking over as head coach after the departure of Rahul Dravid:
The World Champions in the T20 format will be travelling down south to Sri Lanka for a 3-match T20I series followed by a 3-match ODI series where the likes of skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be involved after a month-long break.
The T20I series will kick off the tour on July 27 and all three T20Is will be played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy with the next two games scheduled on July 28 and July 30, also to be played at the same venue.
Squads
Sri Lanka: Charith Asalanka ©, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera (wk), Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwan Thushara, Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando.
India: Suryakumar Yadav ©, Ꮪhubman Gill (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj.
Sri Lanka would look to reclaim lost glory
The Lankan Lions have been heavily wounded as they were knocked out of the 2024 T20 World Cup with successive losses to South Africa and Bangladesh before procuring their first win of the campaign against the Netherlands.
Under the captaincy of Wanindu Hasaranga, Sri Lanka was eliminated brutally and the management has sought new leadership after the all-rounder relinquished the leadership role making way for vice-captain Charith Asalanka to get elevated to captaincy.
Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dilshan Madhushanka, and Sadeera Samarawickrama were dropped with Dinesh Chandimal in line to play his first T20I since February 2022 in a squad overhaul.
A New Era for India under Gautam Gambhir
Kuldeep Yadav has been rested for the T20I leg of the Sri Lanka tour while Jasprit Bumrah has been allowed complete rest from the tour with an eye on the 2023-25 World Test Championship matches against Bangladesh and Australia.
Nine of the 15 members of the T20 World Cup-winning squad have been retained for the T20I series with Suryakumar leading the charge in T20Is under the guidance of Gambhir who will be kick-starting a new era in Indian cricket after winning the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup.
The former Member of Parliament recently led Kolkata Knight Riders to their third Indian Premier League title and would be aiming to translate the success to the national team.
Gautam Gambhir would be expected to lead India to more trophies in the next few years
With the retirement of Kohli, Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja from the shortest format along with the ouster of Hardik Pandya from the leadership group, Gambhir has the responsibility of filling huge holes in the Indian batting line-up while reclaiming the lost glory in the ODI setup after getting eliminated in the knockout stages of the last four major ICC trophies in the 50-over format.
The likes of Yashaswi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill are more than ready to replace Kohli and Sharma at the top while Washington Sundar and Riyan Parag have been picked to find an appropriate replacement for Jadeja. Abhishek Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, and Ruturaj Gaikwad did pretty well on the Zimbabwe tour and should be in reckoning for the upcoming series.
Head to Head Record
The two neigboring nations have competed in the T20I format 29 times with the Men in Blue holding the upper hand with 19 wins while the Island country has only been able to bag the victory on 9 occasions which includes the 2014 ICC T20 World Cup final.
India has dominated Sri Lanka in recent years though, winning both of the last couple of T20I series which includes a whitewash in the 2022 T20I series played across the northern cities of Lucknow and Dharamsala.
Predicted Starting XIs
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera (wk), Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka ©, Dinesh Chandimal, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwan Thushara, Dushmantha Chameera.
India: Ꮪhubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (wk), Suryakumar Yadav ©, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj.
Prediction
Both sides have quite a few familiar faces in the squad mixed in with some young blood coming through the domestic setups. With two new skippers, it would be interesting to watch how both fans and pundits lead their respective sides out on the field.
With India dominating the Lankan Lions in recent times, Gambhir and Suryakumar have their task cut out on their first tour as a coach-captain combination and the duo would like to lift the trophy at the end of the 3-match T20I series.