India announce squad for ODI series against Sri Lanka

Virat Kohli will be rested for the ODI series against Sri Lanka with Rohit Sharma taking over as captain. The opener, who made a century in the second Test, was earlier announced as vice-captain of the side and will now get his chance to captain the side. Hardik Pandya, who was rested for the Test series returns to the squad for the three-match ODI series that begins on December 10.

Ever since the IPL, Virat Kohli has been consistently playing cricket without a break. The leading run-getter in international cricket in 2017 will finally get a rest during the ODI series. Ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka, he said: "Definitely, I do need a rest. Why not? When I think of the time when my body needs to be rested, I'll ask for it. I am not a robot, you can slice my skin and check, I bleed."

Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit will be the three openers in the side, which has limited-overs regulars, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni and the likes of Kedar Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik as well.

Shreyas Iyer will get another opportunity to impress as he has been picked in the 15-man squad after making his debut in the series against New Zealand.

Against New Zealand and also in Sri Lanka, the spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal impressed and they have been retained in the squad. They will have the pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for company and the impressive Siddharth Kaul, who earns his maiden ODI call-up.

If the third Test in Delhi goes to five days, India will just get three days break before the start of the ODI series, which begins on December 10.

India will play three ODIs and three T20Is against Sri Lanka, with the first ODI at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala. The second and third ODI will take place at Mohali and Visakhapatnam on December 13 and 17.

The first and second ODIs, were intially supposed to be Day-Night games but the games will now start two hours ahead of schedule. The two matches that will take place in Dharamsala and Mohali were supposed to start at 1.30 PM but will start at 11.30 AM due to the cold weather.

ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddharth Kaul

Along with the squad for the upcoming ODI series, the squad for the third Test was also announced. Virat Kohli will captain the side and while Shikhar Dhawan, who was released for the second Test, returns to the squad.