Gautam Gambhir in the spotlight as ICC shares photos of Team India in Sri Lanka
ODI and Test captain Rohit Sharma, along with star batter Virat Kohli and spinner Kuldeep Yadav, will join the team later for the ODI series.
Updated : July 23, 2024 01:28 PM ISTODI and Test captain Rohit Sharma, along with star batter Virat Kohli and spinner Kuldeep Yadav, will join the team later for the ODI series.
Gautam Gambhir - ICC Twitter
After a press conference, Team India travelled to Sri Lanka for the upcoming limited-overs series, with much attention centred around Gautam Gambhir. The newly-appointed head coach led the Indian cricketers upon their arrival at Colombo airport on Monday evening, drawing significant limelight.
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The Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) shared photos of India's arrival on their social media platforms. The ICC captioned one of the posts with, "The Gautam Gambhir era begins. India team have landed in 🇱🇰 for the white-ball series!"
The Gautam Gambhir era begins 👊
— ICC (@ICC) July 22, 2024
India team have landed in 🇱🇰 for the white-ball series!#SLvIND | 📷: @OfficialSLC pic.twitter.com/RDRzJXGVl1
The series will kick off with three T20I matches starting on July 27, followed by ODIs. After landing in Colombo, the Indian players had a two-hour bus journey to Pallekele, the venue for the T20Is. The ODIs, scheduled to commence on August 2, will occur at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Indian squad initiated a three-hour practice session. All members of the T20I squad began their practice, as confirmed by the BCCI, which also shared a video documenting the players' departure and arrival.
Mumbai to Pallekele via Colombo ✈️ 🚌#TeamIndia have reached Sri Lanka 🇱🇰#SLvIND pic.twitter.com/ffDYJOV7wm
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 22, 2024
This tour will see Gambhir as Team India's head coach after taking over the responsibilities from Rahul Dravid. Under Dravid, the Men in Blue reached three ICC tournament finals across formats and even won the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.
Addressing the press before departure from Mumbai, Gambhir emphasized fostering a cohesive and supportive dressing room environment. "I am taking charge of a highly successful team, having been runners-up in the WTC and 50-over World Cup. I understand the responsibility and look forward to the challenge," he remarked.
ODI and Test captain Rohit Sharma, along with star batter Virat Kohli and spinner Kuldeep Yadav, will join the team later for the ODI series. Meanwhile, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer make a return to the national setup after an extended absence. Though no longer part of the T20I plans, they remain pivotal figures in the ODI squad.
T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj.
India ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.