MUMBAI: India’s squad for the two-Test tour of Sri Lanka next month will be announced on Tuesday (July 28).“Yes, the Indian team for the Sri Lanka Test tour will be selected in the next two days. By Tuesday, we will announce the squad,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia told TOI on Saturday.The first test of the series – expected to be a trial by fire for the Indian batsmen, who have struggled with overseas behavior in changing tours in recent years – will be played in Galle from August 15 to 19. The second test is scheduled at the SSC in Colombo from August 23 to 27.Meanwhile, the BCCI will conduct a review of Team India’s white-ball tours of Ireland, England and Zimbabwe in the first half of August.Led by new T20I captain Shreyas Iyer, India suffered a shock 2-0 loss to Ireland – the hosts’ first T20I defeat – before being whitewashed 4-0 by England in the T20I series. Under Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, India lost the ODI series 2-1 to England, resulting in a disappointing tour of the UK.India, however, got the better of Zimbabwe, beating the hosts by seven wickets in the opening T20I at the Harare Sports Club on Thursday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The win was Iyer’s first as India’s T20I captain after a seven-match unbeaten run.“We will review India’s tours of England, Ireland and Zimbabwe in the first quarter of August. It may be early August. Some contracts (for Team India’s sponsors) have expired. We will review. In our review meeting, we will discuss everything, including what went wrong in England. “The rematch will be held when our team comes back from Zimbabwe,” Saikia told the newspaper.
BCCI will review to decide on contract extensions of Ten Doeschate and Dilip
The contracts of the two members supporting head coach Gautam Gambhir may follow the white ball situation, and a decision on their future will be taken at the BCCI’s review meeting after the Zimbabwe tour.The two-year contracts of assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate and sports coach T Dilip have expired.In the matter of extension of two staff members, whose contracts have expired, the evaluation committee will decide to extend their contract,” revealed Saikia.There are speculations that Ten Doeschate and Dilip’s contracts may not be extended.Dilip, who joined the Indian team as one of the assistants to head coach Rahul Dravid, has become popular and is fondly remembered for initiating the ‘Best Fielder Medal’ presentation after every match. He was the only member of Dravid’s coaching staff to continue after Dravid, batting coach Vikram Rathour and bowling coach Paras Mhambrey ended their tenure after India won the 2024 T20 World Cup.India’s standards, however, have fallen sharply in the past few months.
