Reports: Hardik Pandya in contention to lead India in white-ball series against Sri Lanka starting January 3

It has been reported that the outgoing selection committee led by former pacer Chetan Sharma will be selecting two India white-ball squads for the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka that gets underway on January 3.

Furthermore, the report adds that star all-rounder Hardik Pandya could be named the captain as regular skipper Rohit Sharma’s finger injury is not expected to heal within that time frame. Meanwhile, KL Rahul, who is the Indian team’s current vice-captain has not been given a chance and there are rumours of his T20I days being numbered.

The old committee will probably select the Sri Lanka white ball squad: BCCI source

“The old committee will probably select the Sri Lanka white ball squad," a BCCI source said as reported by News 18.

“As of now, it doesn’t look like Rohit Sharma’s finger will heal enough before the T20Is and in that case, Hardik will lead the side. As far as KL Rahul is concerned, his T20I days seem to be numbered,” the source added.

Rahul was criticised for his defensive batting approach in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final against the eventual champions England where he and skipper Rohit Sharma played so conservatively that India could only score 62 runs in the first ten overs. The Karnataka cricketer was 'rested' for the subsequent T20I series in New Zealand.

Ever since India’s T20 World Cup semis exit, a section of cricket experts has been backing Hardik Pandya to lead India in the shortest format with an eye on the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 that is scheduled to be held in the Caribbean and the USA.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma’s extent of injury is still unknown. The ‘Hitman’ injured his thumb while attempting a tough catch in the slip cordon during the second ODI against Bangladesh and had to leave the field for treatment.

He did come out in the middle and scored a valiant half-century as India agonizingly fell five runs short of the target. The injury eventually ruled Rohit out of the third ODI and from the ongoing two-match Test series.