After the suspension of IPL 2021, BCCI will turn their attention to international cricket. In a recent interview with Sportstar (via PTI), BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has announced that team India will be travelling to Sri Lanka for three ODIs and five T20Is in July.
“We have planned a white ball series for the senior men’s team during the month of July where they will play T20 Internationals and ODIs in Sri Lank.,”
The squad touring Sri Lanka will consist of a team of white-ball specialists. The likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and Jasprit Bumrah will miss this tour since they will be playing the WTC final and five-match Test series against England. It will be a different team, making it clear that the cricket board also has the preparation of white ball regulars in mind.
With the schedule of the remainder of IPL 2021 yet to be chalked out. BCCI would want the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal to be match-ready. Explaining the planning behind the Sri Lanka tour, a BCCI official told PTI that the board is very keen that all the top players are match ready. Since England doesn’t have a white ball leg the month of July and hence this opportunity can be used.
There are no official matches for the senior team in the month of July. The Test squad will be playing intra-squad games in England. Getting players such as Surya Kumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan much-needed playing time in Sri Lanka will give selectors a good idea about the final squad for the T-20 World Cup that is set to take place in October. Shreyas Iyer could also make his return, while Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal could also make their T-20 debut for the Indian team.