Virat Kohli Rested for Home T20 Series Against Sri Lanka

As the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the T20I squad for the upcoming three-match series against Sri Lanka, all-rounder Pawan Negi’s name emerged out as the only surprise inclusion.

Virat Kohli was on Monday rewarded for his stupendous performance in India’s clean sweep against Australia in the T20 internationals as he replaced Aaron Finch as the top-ranked batsman in the ICC list for the shortest format.

With Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men kicking off their bid for a second Twenty20 World Cup in six weeks, the team have made a decision to rest Kohli who was top-scorer in the series in Australia.

Making a comeback was paceman Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who had missed the T20 series after injuring himself during the ODIs. On the other hand, left-arm spinner Pawan Negi, who has been impressive for the Chennai Super King in the last few seasons, has also received his maiden global call-up.

The three matches will take place on February 9, 12 and 14. Youngsters Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah remain in the mix after showing vast promise, while Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra keep their places. Pandey was a part of the ODI Indian team during the recent tour of Australia but was did not feature in the T20 team.

T20I (Women): Mithali Raj (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Veda Krishnamurthy, Harmanpreet Kaur, Anuja Patil, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Sushma Verma, Poonam Yadav, VR Vanitha, Sneh Rana, Thirushkamini MD, Ekta Bisht, Niranjana Nagarajan.

Sri Lanka, themselves, have rested plenty of key performers for the three-match series, including captain T20 Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Rangana Herath, Nuwan Kulasekara and Nuwan Pradeep.

The selectors also named the squads for the women’s limited-overs series against Sri Lanka.