Picture Credit: BCCI
Indian Premier League may have been deferred indefinitely. Still, India has a jam-packed schedule in front of them starting from June. And before that, all the staff and players need to be vaccinated and fulfil the COVID-19 quarantine protocols. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly recently revealed that India will play an away limited-overs series against Sri Lanka. The series will include 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is.
According to reports, the Indian team management would be selecting a white ball specialist team for the Sri Lanka tour. A 20-member squad will tour England to prepare for the WTC final and the England series.
This scenario will open the door for the players who have been knocking on the selectors' door with consistent performance.
Let's take a look at players, who can make a debut in ODIs this July:
Ishan Kishan
In IPL 2020, Kishan was the leading run-scorer for Mumbai Indians, with 516 runs at an average of 57.33. The performance earned him his first international call-up to play against England in T20Is. The 22-year-old wicket-keeper batsman from Jharkhand has a decent List A career with 2549 runs in 77 matches, including the highest score of 173. He is a very likely candidate to get an ODI call this time.
Suryakumar Yadav
Another Mumbai Indian batsman, Suryakumar Yadav, caught the eye of the selectors because of his consistent performances in the last 2-3 years. Since the previous 3 seasons of IPL, Surya has scored 400+ runs each season with an average close to 35. He holds a good record in his List A career with 2779 runs in 98 games. Yadav reflected an impressive batting display in 3 T20Is against England. In 2 innings, he smashed 89 runs.
Avesh Khan
The young pacer from Indore was in mesmerizing form in this season's IPL. In just 8 matches, Avesh added 14 wickets under his belt with superb bowling performances. He also maintained a reasonable economy rate of 7.70. Khan has also been selected as a standby player for India's WTC final and England Test series. It won't be a surprise to see him donning the blue jersey in Sri Lanka.
Rahul Chahar
The young leggie had a decent run in this season's IPL, scalping 11 wickets in 7 games with an economy rate of 7.21. Last season, he took 15 wickets in 15 games. Rahul is a good leg-spinner who is yet to show his full potential. Still, the bowler can take wickets at regular intervals with his clever googlies. He holds 64 List A wickets in 39 games, a pretty convincing record for getting a place in the Indian team squad for the Sri Lanka tour.