NEW DELHI: All-rounder Hardik Pandya will lead India's T20 side at home against Sri Lanka next week after selectors left several heavyweights out of the side.
Selectors have been under pressure to make wholesale changes to India's white-ball squads after the side's disappointing T20 World Cup semifinal defeat to England in November.
Sri Lanka's tour begins with the first of three 20-over matches in Mumbai on January 3 before a three-match ODI series from January 10-15.
Out-of-form wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has been dropped from both white-ball squads.
Ageing superstars Virat Kohli, 34, and Rohit Sharma, 35, were not included for the three-match T20 series but both return for the ODI portion of the tour.
Sharma returns as 50-over captain after a thumb injury that forced him to sit out most of this month's Bangladesh tour.
Veteran ODI opener Shikhar Dhawan, 37, who led the team for a three-match series against hosts New Zealand in December, was also dropped from the squad for up-and-coming rookies Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan.
Sri Lanka has announced a 20-man squad for the tour with all-rounder and Asia Cup-winning skipper Dasun Shanaka leading the visitors in both formats. -- AFP
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