The much-awaited India tour of Sri Lanka will begin with three-match ODI series on July 18, followed by three T20Is starting from July 25. As many senior cricketers are currently in United Kingdom (UK) for the upcoming Test series against England, the Lankan tour will see many youngsters showing their skills and talent in the limited-overs leg.
Ahead of the series, many experts and pundits of the fascinating game have started revealing their ideal playing XI for Team India. Following the bandwagon, former India internationals VVS Laxman and Irfan Pathan have also shared their final XI for the ‘Men in Blue’.
Starting with Laxman, the Hyderabad cricketer picked Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw as openers. For the middle-order, he went with Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey. Similarly, for the all-rounders, the 46-year-old picked Pandya brothers (Hardik and Krunal).
Among the bowlers, Laxman selected the old-school ‘Kulcha’ – Kuldeep Yadava and Yuzvendra Chahal as spinners. For the pacers, the former Lancashire batsman went with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar.
“Well, it’s a very detailed squad, a 20-man squad. But I will go with Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, the No.3 batsman, would be Suryakumar Yadav. At No.4 will be Sanju Samson in ODIs, No.5 will be Manish Pandey, at No.6 I will go with Hardik Pandya, No.7 Krunal Pandya. I will have two fast bowlers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar, and two spinners will be Kuldeep and Chahal. This is my ODI XI,” Laxman said on Star Sports.
Here is VVS Laxman’s India XI:
Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal.
On the same show, Irfan also picked his India XI. The Vadodara-born only made one change in the team picked by his former teammate. In place of Krunal, Irfan went with Nitish Rana as a specialist batsman. The 36-year-old was of the opinion that if Hardik can bowl, then India have the liberty of including another batsman.
“Only one change I would like, Hardik Pandya is bowling, so I will have him as an all-rounder, one more batsman I will add – Nitish Rana in place of Krunal. Apart from that same, because I will like to see Hardik Pandya bowl quite a few number of overs,” said Irfan.
Here is Irfan Pathan’s India XI:
Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Nitish Rana, Sanju Samson, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal.
