Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga has slammed the Sri Lanka cricket association for hosting a “second string Indian Team”. India will be up against Sri Lanka in white-ball fixtures scheduled to begin on July 13.
“This is a second string Indian team and their coming here is an insult on our cricket. I blame the current administration for agreeing to play with them due to television marketing needs,” Ranatunga said.
With the first-choice players including captain Virat Kohli and his limited-overs deputy Rohit Sharma on a tour of England, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has sent another team to Sri Lanka for three ODIs and as many T20Is. The team will be led by white-ball specialist Shikhar Dhawan and boasts an excellent mixture of experience and talent. The tour might see the debut of the likes of Devdutt Padikkal and Ruturaj Gaikwad. The series will also have ace Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar who made his return against England in the white ball format earlier this year.
“India sent their best team to England and sent a weaker side to play here. I blame our board for that,” he added.
The selectors have included some new names in the squad. Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Rana, K Gowtham, Chetan Sakariya are some of the players who have received the India call-up for this series.
Former India captain Rahul Dravid has accompanied the team as the head coach.
India’s squad: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (Wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-captain), Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya