SRI LANKA TOUR OF INDIA 2017

Washington, Unadkat named in India squad for Sri Lanka T20I series

by Cricbuzz Staff • Last updated on

Washington has been in exceptional form since the Indian Premier League earlier this year. © BCCI

Washington Sundar, Jaydev Unadkat, Deepak Hooda and Basil Thampi have been named in the 15-man India squad for the three-match Twenty20 International series against Sri Lanka, on Monday (December 4). Rohit Sharma will lead the side with Virat Kohli rested ahead of the tour to South Africa.

Washington has been in exceptional form since the Indian Premier League earlier this year. While he's impressed in domestic cricket, he boosted his chances even further when he finished the highest run-getter and the second-highest wicket-taker in the Tamil Nadu Premier League.

Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Basil Thampi, Jaydev Unadkat.

Thampi too impressed in the IPL for Gujarat Lions as well as with the opportunities he got with the India A side. "We feel Basil and Siraj are more for suited for T20 format at the moment," MSK Prasad, the chairman of selectors, said about the decision.

Unadkat ended the IPL as the second-highest wicket-taker behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar with 24 wickets from 12 games for Rising Pune Supergiant at an average of 13.41.

Mohammed Siraj, who made his T20I debut in the second game against New Zealand in Rajkot, has retained his spot in the squad while there was no place for Kedar Jadhav. Hardik Pandya, who was rested for the three-match Test series but was named for the One-Day International squad, will also be part of the T20I series before the team leaves for the tour of South Africa.

While Hooda failed to impress in the series against New Zealand A, he scored 75 for Baroda against Mumbai and then followed it up with 51 and an unbeaten century against Odisha in the Ranji Trophy 2017-18.

Shikhar Dhawan, who is part of the ODI squad, has been rested for T20Is ahead of the all-important South Africa tour. The decision to rest Dhawan also means KL Rahul and Rohit will be the designated openers for the series.

After the three-match ODI series, India and Sri Lanka will clash in Cuttack, Indore and Mumbai on December 20, 22 and 24 for the T20Is.

© Cricbuzz

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