India will be locking horns with Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series to start off their 2023. The white ball tour of the Islanders in India will give the Men in Blue a good amount of game time as they go into the four-match Test series against Australia in the World Test Championship. The Indian team selection committee, led by Chetan Sharma decided to make some changes in the squad as they sacked KL Rahul from vice-captaincy in the new year.
The position was given to Suryakumar Yadav in the absence of Rahul. The position went to Hardik Pandya for the ODIs, despite the fact that Rahul is a part of that series. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will be hosting the cricketing nations later in the year for the ODI World Cup 2023 and it is a clear indication that the board will be moving ahead from Rahul, who had a below-average 2022 season.
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Suryakumar Yadav on the other hand witnessed an exponential rise in world cricket last year and has been rewarded handsomely by the selection committee after his consistent performances.
A new year 🗓️
A new start 👍🏻
A new Vice-captain – @surya_14kumar – for the Sri Lanka T20I series 😎#TeamIndia had their first practice session here at Wankhede Stadium ahead of the T20I series opener in Mumbai 🏟️#INDvSL | @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/qqUifdoDsp— BCCI (@BCCI) January 2, 2023
The player was seen in the nets ahead of the opening T20I game of the series, whipping up a few great strokes. Yadav, who vouches that he does not practice any special shots in the nets was seen playing an exceptional uppercut which is a defining feature of his game.
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The Mumbai Indians batter shocked the world last year with his ability to access all parts of the ground, something that he has been doing in the Indian Premier League for a while now. However, it looked like Yadav had taken his game a notch above, performing consistently under pressure in crunch games.
The Indian side will be looking to exact revenge for their Asia Cup loss against Sri Lanka after which they were effectively knocked out of the tournament back in 2022.
