Indian squad named for the 3rd Test against Sri Lanka

The Indian selectors today announced the squad for the third and final Test against Sri Lanka to be played at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi from December 2 along with the team for the ODI series against the visitors. Opener Shikhar Dhawan who missed the second Test due to personal commitments is back in the team and most likely will return to opening the batting as well.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar who had opted out of the Nagpur Test match since he was getting married on the previous evening hasn’t been included for the last match whereas he will feature in the limited-overs leg of the tournament that starts on December 10.

While there were reports that the selectors would want to rest skipper Virat Kohli for the last match but that is not the case since the fate of the series hasn’t been sealed yet. However, to balance his workload, Virat has been kept out of the team for the three-match ODI series against the Lankans that starts on December 10.

Since Hardik Pandya is training for the limited-overs series as well Vijay Shankar has managed to hold on to his place. The batting, as well as bowling departments, remain unchanged and the intentions are pretty clear that despite a humongous inning and 239-run win in Nagpur they will go in with a full-strength squad to win the series 2-0 at Kotla.

The team management will once again be in a spot of bother as Dhawan returns to the team; his replacement Murali Vijay hit a remarkable comeback ton in the second match and stitched an invaluable 209-run stand with Cheteshwar Pujara. Given his dicy form in the three outings where he has a half century and two single-digit scores, KL Rahul might find himself on to the bench to make place for the left-hander.

Kotla has conventionally been a good wicket for the spinners and thus it might open a gate for Kuldeep Yadav’s entry into the team. But that only if the team decides to go in with five batsmen and an extra spinner. With Ishant Sharma making the most out of the opportunity in Nagpur, he should hold on to his position. And if Mohammed Shami is match fit he will replace Umesh Yadav in the XI as the second pacer.

Indian squad for the 3rd Test against Sri Lanka:

Virat Kohli (C), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Vijay Shankar