Gautam Gambhir wants veteran Indian trio to play ODI series against Sri Lanka, Ravindra Jadeja likely to be ignored

Indian coach Gautam Gambhir has come out and urged Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah to play the ODI series against Sri Lanka. It was earlier reported that the trio could miss the series as they were set for a break. While Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have retired from T20I cricket, Jasprit Bumrah has been rested to manage his workload. 

According to reports in News18 it has come to light that Gautam Gambhir wants the three stars to play the series. The 42-year-old has apparently made his feelings known to the board as Gambhir feels the players will enjoy a bigger break after the Sri Lanka tour. 

Also Read: Hardik Pandya set to miss ODI series vs Sri Lanka? reports reveal reason

It is curious to note that India is yet to play an ODI series this year. The last ODI game India played was the ODI World Cup final versus Australia in Ahmedabad on 19th November. Since then India has played Test Cricket and T20I cricket. The series against Sri Lanka is also likely to be India’s only ODI series for the year. 

Ravindra Jadeja like to be ignored for Sri Lanka series 

Veteran Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is likely to be ignored for the ODI series. The reports in News 18 claim that the selectors may be ignored due to his bad run of form in recent times. Ravindra Jadeja also had retired from the T20 format along with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. 

The reports also go onto state that Axar Patel is set to be preferred as the spin bowling all-rounder. The 30-year-old played an impressive knock with the bat in the T20 World Cup finals against South Africa. 

According to the reports, it is likely that BCCI will hand over the T20I captaincy to Suryakumar Yadav. Many had believed that Hardik Pandya will be the next captain of the T20 team. 

News18 mentioned that the major reason behind not giving Hardik Pandya the T20 captaincy is his injury record. Suryakumar Yadav had captain India during the South African series late last year. The series ended 1-1 with SKY scoring a brilliant ton to help India the series. The reports also stated that many in the Indian dressing room are also happy with Yadav’s approach as a skipper in the T20 format.