After thrashing Sri Lanka on their home turf and clean sweeping them in all three formats, Virat Kohli and men are ready to welcome the Islanders for a three-match Test, ODI and T20I series. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary in a press conference on Monday announced the 16-men squad that will feature for the Test series, reported ANI. The list includes Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma. Adding to the list of players rested also includes Kedar Jadhav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Manish Pandey. The series will also mark the comeback of India spin duo- Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The month-long bilateral series between India and Sri Lanka will start from November 16 with the first match being played at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Sri Lanka who would still be hurting from the thumping by India will be eyeing revenge.
The last time the two sides met, it saw the emergence of Virat Kohli’s India under the supervision of Ravi Shastri. It also saw many records being broken by the Indian skipper during the course of nine matches which include him becoming the first captain to whitewash Sri Lanka on their home turf, fastest player to reach the 15,000-run mark and becoming the second player with most centuries.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, New Zealand batsmen showed clinical efficiency in a tricky chase to spoil Virat Kohli’s 200th match with a comfortable six-wicket victory over India in the opening One day International. Tom Latham (103 n.o.) and Ross Taylor (95) put up a strong show with the bat while chasing down a target of 281 in 49 overs with minimum fuss. New Zealand lead three-match series 1-0.