Rohit and Co land in Colombo ahead of ODI series

Rohit Sharma has reached Colombo for the upcoming three-match ODI series. Besides the Indian skipper, the players named exclusively for the ODI leg against Sri Lanka checked into the ITC Ratnadipa hotel on Sunday. Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav were among them.

The team sources from Sri Lanka have disclosed that the ODI players will attend a net session at the stadium on Monday. Abhishek Nayar has been shouldered with the responsibility to oversee the session in Colombo. Nayar left for Colombo on Monday morning after the penultimate T20I on Sunday night. 

The remaining squad members will join the team after the T20I series finale on July 30. The visitors have already won the three-match T20I series by securing an unassailable 2-0 lead.

The ODI series commences in Colombo on August 2 and all three matches will be played at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium. The series finishes on August 7, after the second ODI on August 4.

Meanwhile, Morne Morkel is expected to join the coaching setup under Gambhir as the bowling coach. His association with the side is likely to start with the home series against Bangladesh, beginning in September. 

Gambhir recently specified that the team management would be assessing the coaching staff during the six-match series in Sri Lanka, with plans to set up a full-grown coaching staff for future series. It is still uncertain whether Sairaj Bahutule, who specialises in spin bowling and currently touring Lanka as an interim bowling coach, will continue. Morkel, a fast bowling veteran, is not known for his prowess in spin bowling, the team may require a committed spin bowling coach. 

If Bahutule continues to serve in that position, the team would go with two assistant coaches (Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate), a bowling coach (Morkel) and a spin bowling coach, along with the head coach Gambhir. This would lead to a total of six coaches, which may be deemed too many. 

ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.