The India tour of Sri Lanka is set to be a major milestone in the cricketing history of the nation, with Rahul Dravid all geared up to take the head coach’s role for the series. With the white-ball assignment against Sri Lanka being a parallel series, alongside India’s tour of England, the team management was forced to come up with a unique solution.
Dravid, who is widely recognized among the finest coaches in the world, has already led the India U-19 team to World Cup glory in 2018. He is now set to take up the head coach’s role, only for the Sri Lanka series, with a few of his National Cricket Academy (NCA) staff members taking up the assistants’ role.
The Indian team will get at least a week’s time to practice in Sri Lanka before the series kicks off with the first ODI on July 13. The idea of having a preparatory camp in Bengaluru ahead of the team’s departure was also floated but considering the Covid-19 situation in India, the team management preferred to train the players in Sri Lanka.
As was the case with the Indian contingent for the England tour, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will have players quarantine in India for a few days before the flight to the island nation is boarded. The players might need to quarantine in Sri Lanka too if the country’s protocols at that time suggest so.
As per the current norms, all travelers would need to surface pre-departure Covid-19 negative reports and will also need to test negative after a day’s stay at a hotel in Sri Lanka. In cases where players have been fully vaccinated, the guidelines currently demand only one day of quarantine. The regulations, however, can change after June 30.
With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma busy with the tour of England, Shikhar Dhawan is the favourite to take up the captaincy of the team for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka. Shreyas Iyer’s name was also floated but with the batsman unlikely to be included for the series due to shoulder injury, Dhawan looks set to lead the team.
