Rohit Sharma has returned to Team India and now once again the reins of the team are in his hands. After winning the T20 World Cup for Team India on 29 June, Rohit announced his retirement from this format but he will continue to play in the ODI format and the responsibility of captaincy is also on his shoulders. Captain Rohit, who is playing his first series after winning the World Cup, has the challenge of taking a big decision directly. Who will be given the responsibility of wicketkeeper in the playing eleven in the first match of the ODI series against Sri Lanka starting on Friday?

The 3-match ODI series between Team India and Sri Lanka is starting from August 2. Apart from Rohit, Virat Kohli has also returned to Team India for this series, while batsmen like KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, who were out of the T20 team, have also returned. Along with this, Shubman Gill is already a part of the team as an opener. These 5 are the same players who were part of the Indian batting line-up in the World Cup 2023 and showed strong performance. But now Rishabh Pant has also returned to the team and hence it is most important to see who will get a chance in the role of wicketkeeper.

Will Rohit give a chance to Pant?

Indian captain Rohit has always supported Rishabh Pant and has never missed giving him opportunities. Rishabh also led Team India to victory by scoring a brilliant century against England in Manchester in the last ODI series under Rohit's captaincy. Before being ruled out due to a road accident in December 2022, Rishabh Pant scored a century and a half-century in his last 5 ODI innings. Pant, who recently returned from the T20 World Cup, showed his strength by playing some short but important innings. Then before the Test series against Bangladesh, it seems logical to give Pant a chance in this series in terms of batting practice.

Only Rahul will get a chance

Despite this, Pant is unlikely to get a chance in the first ODI and this role seems certain to go to KL Rahul. The reason for this is the Team India management's desire to promote continuity. Rahul performed brilliantly as a wicketkeeper in the ODI World Cup and during this time he was batting in the middle order. Leaving aside the final, he batted brilliantly in different situations and also did wonders in wicketkeeping. Rahul scored 452 runs at an average of 75 in 10 innings of the World Cup and also took 17 wickets.

In such a situation, there is a high possibility that Team India will be seen playing with the same batting order as the World Cup. That means Pant will have to wait for his chance.

In such a situation, there is a high possibility that Team India will be seen playing with the same batting order as the World Cup. That means Pant will have to wait for his chance.