These five players must get a chance in the next two games against Sri Lanka

Tags: Sri Lanka tour of India 2014, India, Sri Lanka, Robin Venu Uthappa, Karan Vinod Sharma, Ranganath Vinay Kumar, Kedar Mahadav Jadhav

Published on: Nov 13, 2014

A few changes have been made in the Indian squad for the final two matches of the one-day series against Sri Lanka, which the hosts have already won.

A few changes have been made in the Indian squad for the final two matches of the one-day series against Sri Lanka, which the hosts have already won. As such, the Indians would be keen to give the faces, who have been included in the series for the last two games a chance, at the expense of some tried and tested hands. Here are five players we think must get an opportunity to feature in the next two matches.


Robin Uthappa: The Karnataka batsman has been hoping for an India recall for a while now, and it has finally come. Uthappa has delivered consistently with the bat over the last two decades. Be it in the IPL or or his domestic teams, Uthappa has been consistency personified. He has also shown maturity in recent times unlike the reckless stroke maker of old. Uthappa has a good chance to prove his international credentials after a long break. It is another matter that he now is being looked at as a wicket-keeping option as well, in a similar role to one Rahul Dravid played under Sourav Ganguly.


Rohit Sharma: Theone-day opener is back in the team after a lengthy injury lay-off. Rohit last played for India in the first match of the one-day series in England, in which he registered a half-century. In his absence, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane have gone on to form a formidable opening pair. So Sharma will be under pressure again to fight for his place in the team. With Dhawan being given a rest, Sharma will most probably be opening the innings with Rahane. It would be interesting to see how he responds to the new challenge, and also whether he can be as effective with a new opening partner.


Karn Sharma: A couple of games at home against Sri Lanka in a low-pressure atmosphere will do the leg-spinner no harm before he heads to Australia. Sharma has been highly impressive for Railways and had even made an impression in the IPL. India have high hopes from him, especially with Ravichandran Ashwin not living up to the expectations when playing away from home. A leg spinner is always a great asset for the side, especially if he has a knack of getting wickets. This is the prime reason why Sharma must get a look in.


Kedar Jadhav: The veteran Maharashtra batsman has been unlucky not to have been selected before. He has been consistency personified for Maharashtra for the last few seasons, and has made good scores in the IPL as well. On the tour of Australia A, he had three consecutive scores of fifty plus, which strengthened his case for India selection.


Vinay Kumar: His recall is rather surprising. Possibly with the number of injuries to their fast bowlers, the selectors want to fall back on an experienced option. Kumar hasn’t had a great one-day career thus far, but he gets another chance to change his disappointing ODI stats.


--By A Cricket Analyst

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