SWOT analysis of the Indian squad for the Nidahas Trophy

#3 Opportunities

Shardul Thakur will relish the opportunity of bowling with the new ball for India

With two front-line seamers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah being rested, the series will provide an ideal platform for Shardul Thakur and Jaydev Unadkat to establish themselves as the new ball opening pair for team India. India are yet to identify their third pacer for the 2019 World Cup too and a good performance in the Nidahas Trophy may open the doors for Thakur and/or Unadkat in the ODI team too. Though both Thakur and Unadkat have played just 5 and 14 international matches respectively, they have performed consistently in the domestic circuit for many seasons and will relish the opportunity to bowl with the new ball in Sri Lanka.

The series will also provide a platform for all rounders like Hooda and Shankar to prove their worth at the international level and whether they can challenge Hardik Pandya with their consistent performances.

The series will also be a crucial one for Rishabh Pant as India will need to identify the successor for MS Dhoni in the T20 format. India will look to groom a young keeper and Pant seems to be the ideal replacement.

The likes of Washington Sundar and Mohammed Siraj will look to impress the selectors if and when they get an opportunity to play in the series.

It will also be interesting to see the role of KL Rahul and Dinesh Karthik in the series as a good series for either/both of them will give the selectors a good headache in choosing the number 4 position for the 50-over format.