A new year brings new opportunities, goes the old saying. Whether this can be applied to the churning and virtually non-stop cycle of Indian men’s cricket is debatable, only because the past 12 months have shown that opportunities don’t necessarily translate into stability or sustained success.
Early in 2022, Rohit Sharma was named full-time captain of the Indian men’s cricket team across three formats. Throughout the year, Rohit – like several other central cricketers of this team – were rested and rotated. The likes of Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Kishan, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel and Arshdeep Singh were given significant chances while others, such as Sanju Samson, Ravi Bishnoi, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Venkatesh Iyer found themselves wondering what was required to get more opportunities. Series by series, tour after tour.
Now, as 2023 starts, the Indian team is heading into a T20I and ODI series at home with Sri Lanka, the squads for which were announced at 10:16pm on the night of December 27. No Rohit (recovering) or Virat Kohli or KL Rahul (both rested) for the T20Is; no Rishabh Pant in either squad; no Shikhar Dhawan in the only format he still plays (ODIs); no Shreyas Iyer and Mohammed Siraj (both rested) for the T20Is; no Mohammed Shami in the T20Is; no Bhuvneshwar Kumar in either squad, which indicates his India career is over; and no mention of injured Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Deepak Chahar.
Opportunities have been handed to Ishan Kishan, who in India’s previous ODI smashed 220, and who is now the first-choice wicketkeeper for the Sri Lanka series, Gill, Umran Malik, Gaikwad, Hooda and the uncapped trio of Rahul Tripathi, Shivam Mavi and Mukesh Kumar. Whether they grab their chances or not is perhaps immaterial, because with Indian cricket under Rohit and coach Rahul Dravid, this much is clear: opportunities do not mean much in the larger scheme of matters.
India and Sri Lanka have become familiar rivals; they have met each other in bilateral series at least once a year for the past seven out of eight years.
SERIES SCHEDULE
January 3 – 1st T20I, Mumbai
January 5 – 2nd T20I, Pune
January 7 – 3rd T20I, Rajkot
January 10 – 1st ODI, Guwahati
January 12 – 2nd ODI, Kolkata
January 15 – 3rd ODI, Thiruvananthapuram
TEAM NEWS
INDIA
With India’s preferred top three of Rohit, Rahul and Kohli not selected for the T20Is with Sri Lanka, a different top order will have to be picked. Kishan and Gaikwad appear the likely openers, unless the management hands a debut to the uncapped Gill. Hooda is best suited to bat at No 3, from where he scored a maiden T20I hundred in Ireland in 2022, and thereon the middle order should include Suryakumar Yadav, Samson and Pandya. Tripathi may get a chance during this series.
The bowling attack will likely be made up of Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep, Harshal, Umran and one of Axar Patel and Washington Sundar.
India likely XI (T20Is): 1 Ishan Kishan, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Sanju Samson, 6 Hardik Pandya (capt), 7 Axar Patel/Washington Sundar, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Umran Malik, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal
SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka’s 20-man squad for the tour of India does not include three key players from their most recent series, which was at home against Afghanistan: Dinesh Chandimal, Asitha Fernando and Dhananjaya Lakshan have been dropped.
Sri Lanka likely XI (T20Is): 1 Kusal Mendis (wk), 2 Pathun Nissanka, 3 Dhananjaya de Silva/Avishka Fernando, 4 Charith Asalanka, 5 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Mahesh Theekshana, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Lahiru Kumara
PITCH & CONDITIONS
Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, venue for the first T20I on January 3, is known to assist the fast bowlers, particularly upfront in the Powerplay. The 2022 IPL is evidence enough of this, with the likes of Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Umran Malik the notable fast men to find some bounce with the hard, new ball. That said, the relatively shorter boundaries at the Wankhede mean that if the bowlers aren’t tidy, the side batting first can rack up a total in excess of 180 without too much fuss.
PREDICTION
India blanked Sri Lanka 3-0 earlier in 2022 when they came visiting, and despite the big names missing we can expect a similar result given the conditions and promise in Indian cricket these days.
