Nidahas Trophy: Young guns ready to roar under Rohit Sharma

DXcHyA-XkAAdfeF
India will face the hosts Sri Lanka in the first game tomorrow. Image Source: BCCI

 

XtraTime Web Desk: In the absence of regular skipper Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and few other key players, all eyes will be on Rohit Sharma led second-string team, when they will face host Sri Lanka in the opening match of the Tri-Nation Nidahas Trophy tomorrow.

A lot of new faces will be a part of Indian playing XI and they would be eyeing to get in the good books of the selectors with their good performance as the World Cup is not that far. Beside Sri Lanka and India, Bangladesh will be the third team in this tournament.

Young Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Mohammed Shiraj have got the chance to showcase their talents for the nation, who otherwise would have been cooling their heels back home and waiting for their respective IPL camps to start.

For all those who are likely to get a game, there will be just one target — to make most of their chances as some of them might not get too many with just about 16 months left for the ICC World Cup.

Even though this is a T20 tournament, a good performance will keep the national selection committee interested for those limited batting slots in the middle-order and perhaps the reserve pacers.

They have mauled Sri Lanka on most of the occasions and stand-in captain Rohit Sharma will have plenty of reasons to remain upbeat about taking the trophy back home.

On a personal front, Rohit will be itching to get back to form after a poor South Africa tour where he managed only a single hundred in the one-dayers.

In the familiar territory of Premadasa Stadium, Rohit will love to come out all guns blazing in the company of Shikhar Dhawan.

Suresh Raina is slowly getting back into the groove at No 3. The Lankan pitches and the pace trio of Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera and Dasun Shanaka are not expected to pose too many problems to the stylish left-hander, who was out of the side for a year owing to fitness and form-related issues.

The extremely talented KL Rahul may have to miss out if he is not allowed to open by the team management. With Raina back in the team, Rahul can only bat at No.4, where Manish Pandey has been staking claim for quite some time now.

In the limited opportunities that Pandey has got, he has proved himself and this is the tournament where he can get an extended run.

Dinesh Karthik is expected to bat at No.5 and don the big gloves which would leave Deepak Hooda and Rishabh Pant fighting out for specialist batsman’s place at No.6.

Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal are the two spin bowling options at the floodlit Premadasa, where the wicket gets slower as the night progresses.

Shardul Thakur after an impressive show in South Africa, is expected to share the new ball with Jaydev Unadkat.

It will be interesting to see if India opt for an extra pacer or an all-rounder. In case the team wants an extra pacer then Mohammed Siraj will come in or else Tamil Nadu all-rounder Vijay Shankar. If the need of the hour is an extra spinner, then Axar Patel is the option at hand.

One thing can be expected from chief coach Ravi Shastri. He will not play anyone, who is not in the team management’s larger scheme of things — that is the World Cup.

Last time when India played in the island nation, they pulled off a complete whitewash — 9-0 across formats — but this time, it may not be that easy.

Sri Lanka have recently won a tri-nation ODI tournament in Bangladesh and they will take a lot of confidence from the fact.

The likes of Dinesh Chandimal, Upul Tharanga, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera are all talented but the firepower in their game has been missing for quite some time now.

The bowlers like Lakmal, Chammera, Shanka and their mystery spinner Dananjaya will have their task cut out against a deadly batting line-up.

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj and Rishabh Pant (wk).

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (c), Suranga Lakmal (vc), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Janith Perera, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Amila Aponso, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera, Dhananjaya De Silva.