Mumbai: Star India cricketer Virat Kohli, who had a terrific run in the recently concluded series Down Under, has been rested for the three T20 internationals against Sri Lanka starting February 9.
The selectors included all-rounder Pawan Negi and Manish Pandey – who slammed his maiden ton (104* off 81 balls) in the fifth ODI against Australia.
Kohli, who scored 199 runs in the three-match T20 series against Australia, will now have time to prepare for the ICC World T20 where Team India will start as favourites.
Negi rolled into the mix after a successful stint in domestic cricket – Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Deodhar Trophy. He has previously played under Mahendra Singh Dhoni for Chennai Super Kings in IPL.
Gurkeerat Mann, Rishi Dhawan and Umesh Yadav have been dropped due to lack of performance in Australia.
On the other hand, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is back in the scheme of things after missing the T20 series in Australia due to an injury.
Itinerary (Men’s team)
February 9 (Pune)
February 12 (Ranchi)
Visakhapatnam (February 14)
Itinerary (Women’s team)
February 15-19 (ODI)
February 22-26 (T20)
Squads:
T20I Team (Men): MS Dhoni (C), R Sharma, S Dhawan, A Rahane, M Pandey, S Raina, Y Singh, H Pandya, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, J Bumrah, A Nehra, H Singh, B Kumar, P Negi
T20I (Women): M Raj (C), S Mandhana, V Krishnamurthy, H Kaur, A Patil, J Goswami, S Pandey, R Gayakwad, S Verma, P Yadav, VR Vanitha, S Rana, Thirushkamini MD, E Bisht, N Nagarajan
ODI Team (Women): M Raj (Captain), S Mandhana, V Krishnamurthy, H Kaur, Thirushkamini MD, J Goswami, S Pandey, R Gayakwad, S Verma, P Yadav, D Sharma, P Raut, R Kalpana, N Nagarajan, P Bose
