The Indian squad for the tour of Sri Lanka was announced by the BCCI on June 10. Shikhar Dhawan will be leading the side, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been appointed as his deputy. The team will take part in a 3-match ODI series starting July 13th, followed by a 3-match T20I series.
The squad size for the tour is 25, with as many as 6 new additions, viz. Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Krishnappa Gowtham, Chetan Sakariya, Varun Chakravarthy, and Nitish Rana. Although most of them deserve their place in the squad, a few consistent domestic players were left out.
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Here we take a look at 3 players who deserved a place in the squad for the Sri Lanka tour:
1) Rahul Tewatia
Rahul Tewatia is well known for scripting one of the greatest turnarounds in IPL history. In a run-chase against Punjab, Tewatia initially struggled to score runs for RR before launching Cottrell for 5 sixes in an over. His ability to hit sixes in the lower order and his handy leg-spinners certainly make him an asset for the team.
In a squad that’s missing key all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, Tewatia would have been the perfect replacement. Although Tewatia received a maiden call-up for the India-England T20 series, he failed his fitness tests which eventually pushed him out of the team.
However, he definitely warrants a place in the side, at least in the T20I’s, on the back of excellent IPL performances. Unfortunately for him, he will have to wait for his international debut.
2) Ravi Bishnoi
Ravi Bishnoi, who plays for Punjab Kings in the IPL, is another leg-spinner who has done well every time he gets to play for Punjab. Bishnoi finished the 2020 IPL with 12 wickets and also claimed the ‘Emerging Player of the year’ award.
In 18 matches for Punjab Kings, he has claimed 16 wickets at an excellent economy rate of 7.09. Bishnoi also was the leading wicket-taker in the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. With the dip in form of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, Bishnoi would have been the perfect replacement.
One thing in his favor is the fact that he’s just 20-years-old with plenty of cricket left in him. However, the Sri Lanka tour could have been an excellent opportunity for the youngster to cement a place in the side. Nevertheless, he will have the chance to prove his worth in the upcoming phase 2 of the IPL.
3) Harshal Patel
Harshal Patel had a dream run in the first phase of the Indian Premier League. Termed as a death-overs specialist by Kohli, he proved to be effective with the ball in hand, claiming 17 wickets for RCB. The pacer currently holds the purple cap in the league, with Avesh Khan coming in a close second.
Although he was very inconsistent in his formative years, Harshal finally seems to have a better grip on his bowling. He holds a good first-class record as well. Playing for Haryana, he has bagged 226 wickets at an average of 23.56 in 64 FC matches. The surprise pick of Navdeep Saini for the tour, however, leaves him hanging for his debut cap.