India vs Sri Lanka: First T20I to go ahead as scheduled, says ACA President

Assam saw violent protests over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, which grants citizenship to people belonging to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains Parsis, Buddhists and Christians running away from religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

Since there have been reports of violence in the state, speculations were rife that the first T20I fixture between India and Sri Lanka might not go ahead as scheduled. However, Assam Cricket Association (ACA) president Romen Dutta clarified that this week’s T20I match will go as planned. The T20I opener is scheduled to be held on January 5 at Baraspara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.

“First of the three T20Is between India and Sri Lanka will be held on January 5 (Sunday) in Guwahati as scheduled,” said Dutta as quoted by Deccan Chronicle. The touring party already reached India for the upcoming series and have begun their ideal preparations against their counterparts.

Jasprit Bumrah and Shikhar Dhawan return to the squad

Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah and Shikhar Dhawan are back with a bang for Sri Lanka series. The world-class bowler has returned to the squad after a four-month gap as he underwent surgery in a bid to treat his lower back problem. He was last seen in cricketing action against West Indies in August. The fast bowler proved his fitness by bowling during the team’s training session ahead of the second ODI against the West Indies in Vizag.

Shikhar Dhawan missed out on India’s previous series against the West Indies after he picked up an injury during a domestic T20 game. The flamboyant opener will be looking forward to making an indelible mark when he takes the field against Sri Lanka. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has given Rohit Sharma a much-needed break as he played non-stop cricket throughout 2019, that is from IPL 2019 to the West Indies tour of India.

Rohit Sharma also led the team from the front whenever regular skipper Virat Kohli was rested. He will return to action for three-match ODI series against Australia. Apart from India’s limited-overs vice-captain, pacer Mohammed Shami has also been rested for Sri Lanka T20Is.

India’s squad for Sri Lanka T20Is:

Virat Kohli (C), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam Dube, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar

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