Youngsters Washington Sundar, Basil Thampi, Deepak Hooda and Jayadev Unadkat have been picked up in the Indian team for the three-match Twenty20 international series against Sri Lanka, starting from December 20.
Rohit Sharma will lead the side in absence of Virat Kohli, who has been rested along with Shikhar Dhawan, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar ahead of the tour to South Africa.
Washington Sundar, who has been in excellent form since the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier this year, will be playing his maiden T20I match. Earlier, Sundar has shown his skills in U-19 World Cup that was held last year. The 18-year-old all-rounder finished as the highest scorer and the second highest wicket-taker in the Tamil Nadu Premier League as well.
Meanwhile, Basil Thampi, too, impressed in the IPL for Gujarat Lions and made most of the opportunities he got with the India A side. Thampi’s terrific form and his bowling skills seem to have impressed the selectors.
In last IPL season, Unadkat was the second-highest wicket-taker with 24 wickets from 12 matches for Rising Pune Supergiant. Meanwhile, though Hooda had failed to impress in the 2017 IPL, he has been impressive for Baroda in Ranji Trophy this season.
In a three-match T20 series, India and Sri Lanka will clash in Cuttack, Indore and Mumbai on December 20, 22 and 24, respectively.
Team: 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.