Will Kohli be rested for the December leg of the Sri Lanka series that includes the third Test in New Delhi, three ODIs and three T20s?
There were no surprises in the Indian Test squad for the home series against Sri Lanka in November-December when the selection committee picked up a 16-member squad for the first two games in Kolkata (November 16-20) and Nagpur (November 24-28).
Though, it may seem strange that a 16 players have been picked up instead of the regular 15 for a home Test series. Out of the squad goes third opener Abhinav Mukund of Tamil Nadu, while his state-mate Murali Vijay returns to the Test set-up after missing the Sri Lanka series due to wrist injury.
On the logic behind choosing 16 players for the first two Tests, chairman of selectors MSK Prasad said here on Monday: “We have strengthened every department, the spin, medium-pace and others. With the domestic season going on, some of the players can (also) be released.
We will work on that. We wanted to cover every aspect. Also, with the new ICC rules allowing even a wicket-keeper can be substituted, we have a 16-man squad.” For the record, the Test squad has only specialist wicket-keeper in Wriddhiman Saha.
Premier spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, not considered for the limited-overs of late, have retained their Test spots. While Prasad denied media reports that captain Virat Kohli will be rested for the December leg of the Sri Lanka series that includes the third Test in New Delhi (Dec 2-6), three ODIs and three T20s, he said that the workload of the skipper will be monitored.
“The Test squad is for the first two Tests. We are considering the workload of the players, the international schedule. It will be too premature to say right now who all are being rested,” Prasad said. “With regard to Virat Kohli, there is some speculation that he is going to be rested of the whole of Sri Lankan series.
"It is not right. As far as the Test series is concerned, he is going to play, and at some point of time, the rotation policy that we are following will also apply to the captain. We are also monitoring his work load. He has been playing continuously right from IPL till date. We need to give him a break which we will consider after the Test series,” the former India wicketkeeper said.
There is every likelihood of Kohli being rested for the limited-overs leg of the home series against Sri Lanka so that he is back fresh for the tour of South Africa, for which India depart in the last week of December.
Test squad vs Sri Lanka (1st 2 games)
Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Md Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma
Test schedule vs Sri Lanka
November 16-20: 1st Test, Kolkata
November 24-28: 2nd Test, Nagpur
December 2-6: 3rd Test, New Delhi
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 "Cricket, MSK Prasad, test cricket, odi, t20, India v/s Sri Lanka, virat kohli, murali vijay, ravichandran ashwin")
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