The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India's squad for the upcoming ODI series and one T20I match against Sri Lanka, on Sunday, August 13, 2017. Yuvraj Singh has been dropped from the squad, and KL Rahul and Manish Pandey have been brought back.
R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami have also been rested, and Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal and Shardul Thakur will replace them. However, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will fly to England to play county cricket.
Yuvraj has lost his place having tallied 109 runs in his last six ODI innings. Dinesh Karthik and Rishab Pant have also been dropped.
#TeamIndia for Sri Lanka ODIs & T20I - Virat (C), Shikhar, Rohit (vc), Rahul, Manish, Rahane, Kedar - Part I
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 13, 2017#TeamIndia for Sri Lanka ODIs & T20I - MSD (wk), Hardik, Axar, Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, Shardul - Part II
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 13, 2017Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah also return for the limited-overs series. Rohit Sharma will be the vice-captain.
The five-match ODI series will start at Dambulla on August 20. The second and third matches will be played at Pallekele on 24 and 27 August followed by the final two games at Colombo on 31 and 3 September.
A senior BCCI official, who is privy to selection policy, said that Yuvraj Singh is no longer in contention for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales.
“His batting has lost sting. He rarely bowls, and his fielding has gone down a few notches. If we have to prepare a team for 2019 World Cup, we had to take a call now. In case of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, we still don’t have a replacement, but Yuvraj’s place has multiple contenders,” the official said.
Yuvraj’s fans would like to see the southpaw return to the field. However, with his current form, that possibility seems very unlikely.