Rishabh Pant rested from Sri Lanka series due to knee injury: Reports

Stumper-batter Rishabh Pant’s form in white-ball cricket has been a bit concerning as of late. In 25 T20I matches he played this year, Pant managed to score 364 runs at a strike rate of 132.84. When it comes to ODIs, the southpaw has failed to impress in the last couple of series against New Zealand and Bangladesh. Hence, there were questions and speculations about him getting dropped from the playing XI against Sri Lanka.

However, to everyone’s surprise, the 25-year-old will be missing the entire white-ball series. As per reports, Pant has suffered an injury on his knee and has been carrying that for quite some time now. The cricketer will now be reporting to NCA and will spend at least 15 days in the academy. The cricketer is expected to join NCA on January 3, 2023, and is likely to return in the series against New Zealand.

Dhawan axed, KL Rahul removed as vice-captain of ODI squad

Rishabh Pant’s absence isn’t the only talking point of the squad announcement for the Sri Lanka series. Despite proving himself time and again, opener Shikhar Dhawan couldn't find himself in the 16-member ODI squad while KL Rahul was removed as the vice-captain of the side.

Following his brilliant captaincy in white-ball cricket so far, Hardik Pandya has been promoted as the vice-captain of the ODI team and will once again lead the T20I team in the absence of the senior players. Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav will be seen as Pandya’s deputy in the shortest format.

On an interesting note, players like Shivam Mavi and Mukesh Kumar have found a place in the T20I squad. Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami returns to the ODI set-up while Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja are still recovering from their respective injuries.

India’s T20I squad against Sri Lanka - Hardik Pandya (Captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (VC), Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar.

India’s ODI squad against Sri Lanka - Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (VC), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.