India arrives in Colombo for Nidahas Trophy

Indian team led by stand in skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday evening arrived in Colombo for the Nidahas T20 Trophy which is scheduled to start from Tuesday.

New Delhi: Indian team led by stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday evening arrived in Colombo for the Nidahas T20 Trophy which is scheduled to start from Tuesday. 

In the absence of key players including captain Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the onus will be on the young brigade to stake a claim in the Indian side. 

Apart from the most obvious battle for the keeper's slot between Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant, it will be interesting to see who takes up the all-rounder's spot in the absence of Hardik Pandya. While the odds are heavily in favour of Tamil Nadu captain Vijay Shankar, who is a like-for-like replacement for Pandya, Baroda hard-hitting batsman Deepak Hooda will aslo be in the mix with his ability to bowl uselful off-spin.

Another player of similar attributes is Washington Sundar, who obviously has the edge because of his prior international experience.

The pace department willl be led by T20 specialist Jaydev Unadkat. He will have the likes of Shardul Thakur, who had an ipressive South Africa tour for company. 

The tournament will commence on 6th March when India take on the hosts at the R Premdasa Stadium in Colombo. The final will be played at the same venue on March 18.

All three teams will clash against each other twice and the top teams make the final. All matches will be played in Colombo.

India Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj, Rishabh Pant (wk)