Rohit Sharma-led Team India will face Sri Lanka in the first ODI of the three match-series on Tuesday (January 10) at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. Sharma was not picked in the recently concluded T20I series against the Islanders.
On the other hand, youngsters Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill, who were part of India’s T20I series win against Sri Lanka, have also made it to the ODI squad.
Ahead of the first match at the traditional press conference, Indian skipper Rohit revealed who among the two young openers will accompany him in the three-match rubber.
The veteran opener chose Gill over Kishan, though he acknowledged the wicketkeeper-batter for his incredible knock against Bangladesh in the last game of the previous ODI series.
Notably, Kishan scored the world’s fastest double-century against Bangladesh in the 3rd ODI game and also became the youngest player to hit a 200.
“Both openers (Gill and Kishan) have done really well. But looking at how both have gone through, I think it is fair that we give Gill a chance to have a fair run because in the last games Gill got a lot of runs as well. I am not going to take anything from Ishan. He has been wonderful for us. He got a double hundred and I know what it takes to get a double hundred, it is a great achievement. But just to be honest and be fair to the guys, who have done really well before that we need to give those guys enough chances as well,” Rohit told reporters ahead of the 1st ODI.
“It is unfortunate that we won’t be able to play Ishan but looking at how things have panned out for us in the last 8-9 months, looking at how the ODIs have gone through for us, it is fair to give Gill that run and he has done extremely well in that position. We will definitely try out and keep everyone in the mix and see how things pan out for us as we play a lot of games ahead,” he added.
The series will also see the return of experienced campaigners in Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Mohammed Shami.
