Gautam Gambhir takes charge of his training session ahead of the first T20I against Sri Lanka. To attend

India’s new coach Gautam Gambhir took charge of his first free practice session on Wednesday ahead of the first T20I against Sri Lanka in Pallekele. The Indian team arrived in Colombo on Monday, ahead of Suryakumar Yadav’s team, before making a short trip to Pallekele in the Central Province. India and Sri Lanka will play three T20Is in the city, followed by the same number of ODIs in Colombo. Following captain Rohit Sharma’s retirement from the T20I format, Suryakumar was elevated to a leading role in the three-match series.

Rohit will return to the team for the ODIs, along with Virat Kohli, who also announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game.

Ahead of the series opener, BCCI shared a video of India’s first practice session at Pallekele on its official X account. “Coach Gautam Gambhir takes charge!” BCCI captioned the post.

In the video, Gambhir was seen watching the players closely and giving some valuable batting tips to wicketkeeper batsman Sanju Samson.

#TeamIndia | #SLvIND | @Gautam Gambhir pic.twitter.com/sbG7VLfXGc

-BCCI (@BCCI) July 23, 2024

Before leaving for the island nation, Gambhir held his first press conference with chief selector Ajit Agarkar, who revealed the reason for appointing Suryakumar as T20I captain over all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

“He is one of the deserving candidates. He is one of the best T20 batsmen in the world. We wanted a captain who is likely to play every match. We will see how he fares,” Agarkar told reporters.

“For Hardik, he is still a very important player. And that’s what we want him to be. Fitness has been a challenge for him in the last few years… Then it becomes difficult for the coach or the selectors. I think Surya he has the necessary qualities to be successful as captain”, he added.

The first T20I between India and Sri Lanka will be played in Pallekele on Saturday.

India T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Sir.

(With IANS inputs)