The India vs Sri Lanka series that will start in the last week of July is going to herald a new era under Gautam Gambhir‘s coaching. Veteran stars like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja have retired from T20Is, which means that the team will bear a very fresh look. India will play three T20Is and three ODIs against Sri Lanka. The ODI series holds extra significance as this series will mark the start of India’s preparation for the 2025 Champions Trophy, with the 2027 ODI World Cup being the ultimate prize. 

According to a report by news agency PTI, Hardik Pandya, one of the heroes of India’s T20 World Cup victory last month will take a break during the three-match ODI series, which is scheduled in August, due to “personal reasons”.

The official confirmed to PTI that Pandya has asked for leave and has already communicated this to regular skipper Rohit Sharma, who is also taking a break from this series.

“The break from ODIs is for very personal reasons. Hardik doesn’t have any fitness issue as is being floated in the media,” the official said.

For the ODIs, KL Rahul, who led in the last ODI series in South Africa, and Gill are in contention for the leadership role.

Meanwhile, another report in the PTI has made a big claim. The report said Suryakumar Yadav has emerged as the dark horse to become India’s T20 captain till the 2026 World Cup and might just pip top contender Hardik Pandya, whose elevation from the vice-captain’s position was being seen as a natural progression up until now.

Pandya made himself available for the shortest format games against Sri Lanka this month but it has emerged that Suryakumar, who captained India in eight T20Is against Australia and South Africa last year, is the preferred choice of new head coach Gautam Gambhir and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar.

PTI said both Gambhir and Agarkar spoke to Pandya about this change of plan earlier this evening and explained to him that a long-term option was being finalised to ensure stability.

The T20 leadership role fell vacant after Rohit Sharma bid adieu to his international career in the shortest format following India’s World Cup triumph last month in the West Indies.

With PTI inputs

The India’s tour of Sri Lanka will be starting from July 26 onwards, with the tour starting with a three-match T20I series. The tour will also consist of a three-match ODI series, which will kickstart from August 1 onwards. The Pallekele International Stadium will be hosting the T20I leg of the series while the R Premadasa is getting to host the 50-over matches, announced BCCI. The first T20I will take place on July 26, followed by the second one on July 27 and the final one on July 29.

Both teams will be taking to the field with new head coaches. While legendary all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya has been named as the interim head coach for Lankans, this will also be the first assignment for former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir as the head coach, succeeding the T20 World Cup winning coach Rahul Dravid.

NEWS

Fixtures for the upcoming India tour of Sri Lanka announced! #TeamIndia | #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/6HmvJXHprH

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 11, 2024

India’s last tour of Sri Lanka for a bilateral white-ball series came back in July 2021, with Dravid coaching the Shikhar Dhawan led side. India won the ODI series 2-1 while Sri Lanka secured the T20I series with same margin.

This will be India’s second T20I series after their T20 World Cup win, defeating South Africa by seven runs in the final. Currently, a new-look India side, led by Shubman Gill and coached by VVS Laxman is on a tour to Zimbabwe for a five-match T20I series. The series is currently in India’s hands by 2-1, with the fourth T20I set to be played on Saturday at Harare.

On the other hand, the T20 World Cup was poor for Sri Lanka as they failed to reach the Super Eights. They lost to South Africa and Bangladesh in the group stage and could only register one win against the Netherlands. Their game against Nepal was washed out due to rain. With just three points, Lanka finished in the third spot in Group D.

Following Rohit Sharma’s announcement to retire from T20Is after winning the ICC T20 World Cup, all-rounder Hardik Pandya is likely to lead the Men in Blue in the shortest format of the game. Meanwhile, wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul will lead the team in ODIs, as per the sources.

“Hardik Pandya is all set to lead the Indian team in the T20, Rohit Sharma’s announced his retirement. Hardik is also unlikely to be rested for the upcoming series vs Sri Lanka,” BCCI Sources told ANI.

In the T20 WC, Pandya scored 144 runs in six innings at an average of 48.00 and a strike rate of 151.57, with a half-century and best score of 50*. He also took 11 wickets in eight games at an average of 17.36 and an economy rate of 7.64, with the best figures of 3/20.

This tournament marked a redemption tale for Hardik, who was booed out in every stadium across India during the IPL 2024 after taking over the captaincy of Mumbai Indians (MI) from five-time IPL champion Rohit Sharma. The all-rounder, who was just making a comeback into the game after suffering an injury to his ankle in the 50-over World Cup last year, became a victim of online trolling and fan wars as he was accused of betraying the MI franchise, Rohit and his former franchise Gujarat Titans (GT), which he led to IPL title in 2022.

On the other hand, KL Rahul was omitted from the Men in Blue T20 WC squad despite performing brilliantly in the ODI World Cup 2023 which was held in India, scoring 452 runs in 11 games with a century and two fifties.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have sought a longish break from the BCCI.© X (Twitter)

Former BCCI chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar feels India have one of the strong teams heading into the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. India take on Bangladesh in their only practice match of tournament on Saturday against Bangladesh, days before kicking off their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland in New York on June 5. The Indian team, led by captain Rohit Sharma, arrived in New York earlier this week to begin their preparations for the tournament.

Speaking at a recent event, Vengsarkar suggested that India have one of strongest squads in the tournament, despite the fact that they left out key players like KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Rinku Singh from the 15 man squad.

“The current Indian team, I think, is one of the best in the world, I would say. If you could, you know, put a Gill out or Rahul or Rinku Singh out, I’m sure it’s a very strong team. And I wish them all the success. Because, I think, it’s one of the best in the world at the moment”, Vengsarkar said at an event at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Gill and Rinku have joined the team as travelling reserves while Rahul was missing from both the lists.

Vengsarkar also pointed out that due to the uncertain nature of the format, any player can be a match-winner on a particular day.

“The key players would like to play an important role in this T20 World Cup. It’s very difficult to say in this format because everybody is a very important member of the team. But the thing is that, as you have seen in IPL, the first six were very important. How you give a good start in the first six was very important. And of course, in this format, anything can happen. But I can’t say X, Y or Z is a key player in the team. In this format, anybody can win the match at any time of the match,” he added.

India are placed in Group A alongside Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and T20 World Cup co-hosts USA.

Virat Kohli was absent from the team training this week as he is due to reach New York few hours before India’s warm-up match.

File photo of Justin Langer© AFP

After the victory against Mumbai Indians in their last fixture of the Indian Premier League 2024, Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul said on Friday that he was disappointed with the team’s overall performance in the ongoing 17th edition of the cash-rich league. Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir’s fiery knocks went in vain as MI conceded an 18-run loss against LSG in the IPL 2024 match at the Wankhede Stadium. The wicketkeeper-batter asserted that at the beginning of the ongoing season, he really fealt that LSG had a strong team with most bases covered.

He further said that the Lucknow franchise met with a lot of injuries in the ongoing 17th edition of the cash-rich league.

“Very disappointing. At the beginning of the season, I really felt we had a strong team and had most bases covered. A couple of injuries – happen to every team. We didn’t play well enough collectively. Today was a really good performance. This is the kind of game we wanted to play more. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that. Really happy for them. The franchise has invested a lot of time and energy with them (Indian pacers in LSG). It’s not just two months in the year. We sent Mayank and Yudhvir to South Africa to train with Morne Morkel. Hard work for them has paid off, but the franchise and the team have worked a lot with them. I’m not sure,” Rahul said in the post-match presentation.

The 32-year-old player further stated that this season he has learnt a lot about his batting and what he has to do to get back into the Indian team.

“There’s not much T20 cricket coming up now. It’s been a season where I’ve learnt a lot about my own batting and what I need to do to get back in the team. Maybe middle-order, maybe not. We would’ve ideally wanted him (Pooran) to bat higher, but with how the team’s lined up, we want our senior international players to bat in positions where they can absorb pressure. Didn’t want our two overseas batters to bat close together. I’m on my father-in-law’s team now. We’ll both be cheering for Sharma Ji Ka Beta in the World Cup,” the LSG skipper added.

Recapping the match, after winning the toss MI sent LSG to bat first but that did not go in their favour as KL Rahul (55 runs from 41 balls, 3 fours and 3 sixes) and Nicholas Pooran (75 runs from 29 balls, 5 fours and 8 sixes) played a fiery knock in the first inning. Marcus Stoinis (28 runs from 22 balls, 5 fours) and Ayush Badoni (22* runs from 10 balls, 1 four and 2 sixes) were the other standout batters for LSG as they propelled the visitors to 214/6.

Piyush Chawla led the MI bowling attack as he picked up three wickets in his four-over spell.

In the run chase, the hosts had a stupendous start while chasing a 215-run target but after the end of the fourth over, rain played a spoilsport for which the game was halted for a few minutes. However, that did not break the MI openers’ momentum as Rohit Sharma (68 runs from 38 balls, 10 fours and 3 sixes) and Dewald Brevis (23 runs from 20 balls, 1 four and 2 sixes) played a partnership of 88 runs.

Naman Dhir’s (62* runs from 28 balls, 4 fours and 5 sixes) stunning knock in the later half of the run chase shed a ray of hope on the MI dugout as they thought the hosts could win the match but he failed to clinch a win in the end and conceded a 18-run loss on Friday.

Naveen-ul-Haq and Ravi Bishnoi led the LSG bowling as both of them picked up two wickets in their respective overs.

After the win, LSG ended their IPL 2024 campaign in sixth place in the standings with 14 points. While MI had a season to forget as they finished at the bottom of the table with 8 points.

LSG beat MI in their final league game in IPL 2024.© BCCI

Arjun Tendulkar dismissed Marcus Stoinis in his first over of IPL 2024 but the happiness was short-lived as the decision was overturned by the third umpire during the match between Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants on Friday. Arjun Tendulkar was included in the MI playing XI for the first time this season as the team management decided to give Jasprit Bumrah some rest. During the second over of the match, Arjun’s delivery crashed into Stoinis’ pads and a loud appeal resulted in the on-field umpire raising his finger. The youngster, who is the son of legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, was ecstatic and he marked the occasion with a celebration made famous by veteran India batter Shikhar Dhawan.

Excellent 1st over from Arjun Tendulkar#MIvsLSG #MIvLSG pic.twitter.com/rXvYNor3DE

— King Run Machine (@kingrunmachine) May 17, 2024

However, Stoinis looked confident and quickly went for a review. Replays showed that the ball was bouncing too much and it would have missed the stumps. The decision was reversed by the on-field umpires as Arjun’s wait for a wicket in IPL 2024 continued.

Earlier, MI captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bat against LSG.

“We’re going to bowl. Chasing is better in Wankhede. It comes on nicer in the evening. It’s always about playing for the badge, playing for pride – all those words are important in the group. We know where we stand. But ending the season playing good cricket will always be appreciated. It gives us more freedom maybe to go out there and express ourselves.” Hardik said at the toss.

Playing XIs:

Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan (wk), Naman Dhir, Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Nehal Wadhera, Hardik Pandya (c), R Shepherd, Anshul Kamboj, Piyush Chawla, Arjun Tendulkar, Nuwan Thushara.

Impact Substitutes: Rohit Sharma, Tim David, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Shams Mulani

Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c/wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Arshad Khan, Matt Henry, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan

Impact Substitutes: Naveen-ul-Haq, Ashton Turner, M Siddharth, Prerak Mankad, K Gowtham.

Mumbai Indians (MI) are gearing up to clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the upcoming Match 67 of the Indian Premier League, 2024, at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, scheduled for May 17 at 07:30 PM IST.

Match Preview

Previewing the match, Mumbai Indians find themselves languishing at the bottom of the points table, having garnered a mere eight points from their 13 encounters. Lucknow Super Giants, on the other hand, sit seventh with 12 points, having played the same number of matches.

Reflecting on their recent performances, MI stumbled in their last outing against Kolkata Knight Riders suffering a defeat. In contrast, LSG faced a similar fate against Delhi Capitals. Noteworthy fantasy performances in these encounters include Ishan Kishan’s 71 fantasy points for Mumbai and Arshad Khan’s impressive tally of 102 fantasy points for Lucknow.

Historical clashes

Analysing their head-to-head encounters, Mumbai have struggled against Lucknow failing to notch up favourable results in the past as MI have won only once against LSG. Considering recent trends and our analysis, LSG are favoured to clinch victory in this encounter. Mumbai’s bowling unit has been the cornerstone of their fantasy points accumulation, while the all-rounders have been the primary contributors for the Super Giants.

In their previous clash earlier this season, Marcus Stoinis shone brightly for LSG, emerging as the Man of the Match with an exceptional display, racking up 122 fantasy points. Meanwhile, Nehal Wadhera led the charge for Mumbai Indians with 62 fantasy points.

Players to watch out for –

1. KL Rahul:

A dependable top-order batter and wicket-keeper, the LSG-skipper has amassed 465 runs in 13 matches at an average of 35.7.

2. Jasprit Bumrah:

The right-arm fast bowler has been lethal, claiming 20 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 16.8. He is in contention for the Purple Cap this season.

3. Marcus Stoinis:

A versatile performer, Stoinis has contributed significantly with the bat and ball, scoring 360 runs at an average of 32.7 and bagging four wickets at an average of 43.5.

4. Suryakumar Yadav:

Another reliable batter, the home boy has notched up 345 runs in 10 matches at an impressive average of 38.3.

5. Hardik Pandya:

Known for his explosive batting, Hardik has also made crucial contributions with the ball, claiming 11 wickets in 13 matches.

6. Naveen-ul-Haq:

The medium-fast bowler has been effective, scalping 12 wickets in nine matches at an average of 26.8. Naveen-ul-Haq is the leading wicket-taker for LSG this season.