2015 India's Tour of Sri Lanka - BCCI Selection Committee Meets Today to announce Squad Thursday July 23,2015

 

The third specialist spinner's slot will be the subject of much deliberation when the national selection committee, headed by Sandeep Patil, meets here on Thursday July 23,2015 to announce the squad for the 3-Test away series against Sri Lanka starting August 12,2015

Barring this one aspect, the 5-member selection panel would have very little to fret on while picking the squad for the longer format where at least 13 players will automatically select themselves.

BCCI selection committee members Vikram Rathore, Sandeep Patil, Rajinder Hans, Roger Binny and Saba Karim

Apart from third spinner's position, it will also be interesting to find out whether it will be a 15 or 16-member squad for the three-match series.

The 6 specialist batsmen who are automatic choices are openers Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, skipper Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma and A team captain Cheteshwar Pujara. Young KL Rahul, who missed out against Bangladesh due to dengue, is likely to come back as the seventh batsman.

Wriddhiman Saha is another automatic selection as first-choice wicketkeeper while an additional 16th member might make provision for Naman Ojha or Sanju Samson as the second wicketkeeper.

The three pacers, who are likely to make the cut are Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Pacer Varun Aaron is also a certainty if he recovers from his bout of influenza.

While the two off-spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh are sure to retain their places, it remains to be seen whether the selection committee opts for a left-arm spinner in Axar Patel or a veteran leg-spinner in Amit Mishra.

3-Match Test Series Schedule

First Test @ Galle International Stadium,Galle Aug 12 - 16,2015
Second Test @ P Sara Oval,Colombo Aug 20-24,2015
Third TEst @ Sinhalese Sports Club,Colombo Aug 28 - SEp 01,2015