The Sri Lanka versus India white-ball series is set to kickstart a new era in Indian cricket. After Ravi Shashtri and Rahul Dravid, in comes a doyen of a figure, the Indian Head Coach, Gautam Gambhir.
Everyone has a special memory of Gautam Gambhir. For some, it is his splendid knocks in international cricket and for some, it is his captaincy and mentorship of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
But everyone will unitedly stand in support of him as he starts a new era as the Head Coach of the Indian cricket team. Gautam Gambhir has straightaway made a colossal change as he has made Surya Kumar Yadav the captain of the Indian T20I side, ahead of Hardik Pandya.
In this article, we take a look at the top 5 players to watch out for in the SL vs IND tour:
1. Hardik Pandya (India)
Even though Hardik Pandya will be playing the T20I format only in this tour, the spotlight will be on him. After being booed by his own Mumbai crowd in IPL 2024, Hardik Pandya put a lid on the mouth of all his naysayers in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
Pandya scored 144 runs at an average of 48.00 and played some impactful knocks for India. With the white-cherry, Pandya also bagged 11 wickets and makes a strong case for himself, as one of the greatest white-ball all-rounders, India has ever produced.
2. Arshdeep Singh (India)
Arshdeep Singh has been named in both the T20I and the ODI squads and will be one of the key members of the Indian bowling unit. In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammad Siraj will have to own up responsibility in this series.
Singh had taken 17 wickets in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and had finished as the joint highest wicket-taker of India. He has the ability to weave magic with the ball and will be a player to watch out for.
3. Avishka Fernando (Sri Lanka)
In the recently-concluded Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2024, Avishka Fernando had scored 374 runs in 10 innings and had a decent average of 37.40. He was one of the main reasons why Jaffna Kings (JK) were crowned champions for a record 4th time.
Fernando will be leading the batting stocks for Sri Lanka and can pose as a threat for Surya Kumar Yadav and co.
4. Axar Patel (India)
One of India’s most dependable all-rounders, Axar Patel has emerged to be one of India’s best and most valuable team members. He can bat, he can bowl, he can field and he can bail his team of precarious situations, on countless number of times.
Patel was a vital member of the Indian cricket team in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 squad and his knock of 47 runs in 31 balls, helped India reach to a competitive total.
He will be a key member in both the ODI and T20I squads of India in the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.
5. Matheesha Pathirana (Sri Lanka)
21-year-old Matheesha Pathirana will once again be one of Sri Lanka’s most dependable pacer in this tour. He bagged 15 wickets in the Lanka Premier League 2024 and had finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in this series.
Pathirana can execute his yorkers extremely well and has blossomed into a dynamite of a bowler under the able guidance of MS Dhoni, while plying his trade for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL.
