Rahul Dravid likely to coach Team India in Sri Lanka

India’s Test squad will be traveling to England for the final of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship followed by a five-match Test series against England. The Virat Kohli-led side will be up against New Zealand from June 18 to June 22 at Southampton for the World Test Championship while the Test series against England will commence from August 4.

This means that there will be no competitive cricket for India in the month of July. Thus, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to utilize this free window as it is learned that a different Indian team will be traveling to Sri Lanka for three-match ODI and T20I series.

It isn’t logically possible for the Indian players going to England to travel to Sri Lanka in July and then again move back to the English nation as they will be required to undergo a quarantine period. Thus, a white-ball specialist will travel to India. This won’t be a problem for Indians considering that they have a large pool of players who have managed to attract the attention of the selectors.

Shikhar Dhawan might lead India during India tour of Sri Lanka

The same was confirmed by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly as he said, “We have planned a white ball series for the senior men’s team during the month of July where they will play T20 Internationals and ODIs in Sri Lanka. Yes, it will be a team of white-ball specialists. It will be a different team.”

Meanwhile, it is now learned that the Indian board is thinking on the lines of sending former Indian captain and head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) Rahul Dravid as the coach of India B to Sri Lanka along with his NCA team. India’s head coach Ravi Shastri will be traveling to England with the Test squad, thus Dravid can be called to essay the role of the coach for the India tour of Sri Lanka.

It is also speculated that veteran opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan can be made stand-in captain of the Men in Blue during the Sri Lanka tour as both captain Virat Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma are a part of the Test squad and won’t be participating in the limited-overs series.