Team India will take to the ground for the first match of the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Thursday, 24th February.
Before the start of the series, India had to make some major changes in the team. Senior players like Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant have been rested while KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Chahar have been ruled out of the series due to injuries. Due to the absence of senior players, new faces have got a chance in the team to showcase their talent before the T20 World Cup 2022 later this year.
Meanwhile, former India opener Aakash Chopra has selected his Playing XI for the first T20I. Chopra has kept wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson out of the XI, who returned to the team from this series. The former opener, however, has retained Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma at the top order.
Chopra said on his YouTube channel that Rituraj Gaikwad should open with Ishan Kishan. He further added that he believes that when Team India have started playing Ishan Kishan, then he should be given enough chances to capitalise on it. He said that replacing him after 3 games going to be a struggle.
He continued that he want Kishan to open with Ruturaj because Rohit can bat at number 3, and asked Gaikwad to be given more opportunities. He said that this will also ensure a left and right hand opening combination.
He said that Shreyas Iyer will be at No. 4, Deepak Hooda at No. 5 and Venkatesh Iyer at No. 6. He believes that it is not viable to play Samson lower down the order when when he is a top order batsman, and said that if he can’t be given chances at the top, then there is no point in wasting his chances.
Aakash Chopra Predicted Playing XI
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Venkatesh Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
The first T20I to be played on the 24th February in Lucknow, followed by the remaining two matches on the 26th and 27th February in Dharamshala. After which, Team India and Sri Lanka will also play in a 2 match Test series in March.
