Probable India Squad for Sri Lanka Tour: Gautam Gambhir’s First Series as Head Coach

Gautam Gambhir has been appointed as the new head coach of the Indian cricket team, taking over after Rahul Dravid’s successful tenure, which concluded with a T20 World Cup win in 2024. Gambhir’s contract extends until 2027, during which he will oversee the team in five major ICC events: the WTC 2025, Champions Trophy 2025, T20 World Cup 2026, and ODI World Cup 2027. His first series as head coach will be a three-match T20i series against Sri Lanka, followed by three ODIs.

With the retirements of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja from T20i, Gambhir faces the challenge of setting a strong foundation for the T20 World Cup 2026. Reports suggest Hardik Pandya will captain the T20I side. India plans to field a young team under Gambhir’s guidance in his debut series, aiming to test new talents and establish a platform for the future.

Jasprit Bumrah is expected to miss the series to manage his workload. The likely squad for the T20I series against Sri Lanka is as follows:

Batters:

1. Yashasvi Jaiswal
2. Ruturaj Gaikwad
3. Abhishek Sharma
4. Suryakumar Yadav
5. Rinku Singh

Wicketkeepers:

6. Rishabh Pant
7. Sanju Samson

All-Rounders:

8. Hardik Pandya (captain)
9. Shivam Dube
10. Axar Patel
11. Washington Sundar

Bowlers:

12. Arshdeep Singh
13. Mohammed Siraj
14. Avesh Khan
15. Kuldeep Yadav

This youthful lineup, guided by Gambhir’s leadership, aims to set a strong platform for upcoming challenges, especially focusing on the T20 World Cup 2026.

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