Guwahati, Jan 4:
Comeback man Jasprit Bumrah will be cynosure of all eyes during India’s first T20 international against Sri Lanka in the year 2020 where its namesake global meet will gain precedence over everything for the ‘Men In Blue’.
Out for four months with a back stress fracture, the 26-year-old Bumrah is that precious diamond in this Indian set-up, which had been wrapped in cotton wool during the rehabilitation period.
So much so that he was even exempted from playing domestic first-class cricket for Gujarat after intervention from BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, keeping in mind the workload he will have to take post international comeback.
If 2019 was all about focussing on 50-over format, the current year will witness the Indian team playing close to 15 games before their T20 World Cup campaign starts against South Africa in Perth in October.
There are slots to be locked and till Indian Premier League ends, a clearer picture is unlikely to emerge. But that won’t stop head coach Ravi Shastri and skipper Virat Kohli to set the ball rolling in this current series.
It all starts here at the Barsapara Stadium on Sunday as the biggest city in Assam is slowly getting back to normalcy after protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Squads
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam Dube, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini and Washington Sundar.
Sri Lanka: Lasith Malinga (captain), Danushka Gunathilaka, Avishka Fernando, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya de Silva, Isuru Udana, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Oshada Fernando, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lahiru Kumara, Kusal Mendis, Lakshan Sandakan and Kasun Rajitha.
Match starts: 7pm IST. (PTI)
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