Devdutt Padikkal receives maiden India call-up as squad for Sri Lanka tour announced

RCB opener Devdutt Padikkal has received his maiden India call up. Padikkal, who has had two brilliant seasons with the bat for RCB and has been turning heads with his performances in the domestic circuit will be a part of the squad traveling to Sri Lanka for the three-match ODI and the three-match T20I series. 

The All-India Senior Selection Committee announced the squad on Thursday. Shikhar Dhawan will lead the side, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar as vice-captain. Apart from Devdutt, Yuzvendra Chahal and Navdeep Saini are other RCB members who have been named in the squad.

The squad is full of fresh faces which includes the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Chetan Sakariya and Nitish Rana, all of whom have been notable performers for their respective sides in the IPL. Chetan, who was a part of the RCB net bowlers set-up last year, was picked up by Rajasthan Royals earlier this year in the auction.

The ODIs will be held on 13th, 16th, and 18th July, while the T20Is on 21st, 23rd, and 25th July. All six matches will be played at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo. 

This is the first time in recent history that two Indian teams will be in action in two different series. The main squad led by Virat Kohli will be in England gearing up for the five-match Test series in England when the limited overs’ specialists will be in on the field against Sri Lanka.

Squad: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (Wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-captain), Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya.

Net Bowlers: Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, Simarjeet Singh