Shikhar Dhawan in doubt for the ODI series opener against Sri Lanka

As India now move on to the second half of the series against Sri Lanka, they will aim to extend their dominance without regular skipper Virat Kohli as Rohit Sharma will take over the reins in the limited-overs format. However, one player that is likely to miss out on at least the opener of the three-match One-Day International series at the HPCA Stadium on Sunday is Shikhar Dhawan.

As reported by Wah Cricket, India’s most trusted opener is in doubt for the series opener in Dharamsala and it comes as a setback for Rohit, who takes added responsibility as India’s limited-overs captain. The 32-year-old was down with viral fever on Friday and if he decides to pull out from the opening encounter, Ajinkya Rahane, the backup opener could partner the skipper at the top of the Indian batting order.

Jadhav ruled out

Since Kedar Jadhav too is out with a hamstring injury, Washington Sundar has been called in as a replacement to bat in the middle-order. However, it is Shreyas Iyer who is expected to get his first 50-over cap to take a spot in the top order and bat at No.3 taking Virat Kohli‘s place.

India will be looking to whitewash the Lankans in the ODI series in order to bag the No. 1 spot in the ICC rankings. For that, they will aim to fine-tune the middle-order who will now be playing without Kohli as well as Jadhav. It allows Rahane, Dinesh Karthik, Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer – two open middle-order slots in this series.

However, it will be a tough call for the Indian management to choose between backing an out-of-form Rahane or trying a promising yet uncapped Iyer who would probably try out the one-down spot; provided the former doesn’t take up the opening responsibility instead of an ill Shikhar Dhawan.

The match gets underway 11:30 AM IST on December 10.