Surprises are unlikely when the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee meets head coach Gautam Gambhir to pick India's squad ODI for the Sri Lanka tour. This is in complete contrast to the T20I squad, where the selectors and the board officials are yet to reach a common ground in deciding the captain between Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya. Surya is believed to have the edge as things stand now.

Rohit Sharma, who will no longer play T20Is, neither will Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja as three of them announced retirement from the format after winning the T20 World Cup last month, is set to be back as the captain of the ODI side. Rohit had initially asked for a longish break from the BCCI after the gruelling last six months of non-stop action, but after Gambhir approached him, the opener changed his mind.

The three ODIs in Sri Lanka, beginning on August 2, are among the six ODIs - the other three are against England next year - that India will play before the Champions Trophy in February 2025. Gambhir and the selectors wanted Rohit to take charge of the ODI side and prepare a roadmap ahead under the new management.

Most of the players who were in last year’s ODI World Cup squad will make it except Ishan Kishan, who is set to be replaced by Rishabh Pant. From being a part of the Indian squad in all three formats till last year, Kishan has mysteriously fallen out of favour ever since he decided to come back from the middle of the South Africa tour earlier this year, citing personal reasons. The move reportedly was against the will of then-head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma. Moreover, he repeatedly ignored BCCI's direct instructions to feature in domestic cricket to prove his fitness.

The backlash was severe. Kishan was dropped from the central contracts. He has not been picked for any format since then.

In an interview with The Indian Express, Kishan said he took a break because of travel fatigue.

"I was scoring runs and then I found myself on the bench. These things do happen in a team sport. But I experienced travel fatigue. It meant there was something wrong, I was not feeling well or right and so I decided to take a break. However, sadly, barring my family and few close people no one understood that," he said.

When asked about BCCI's rule of playing domestic cricket before being considered for a come back, Kishan said he respects that. "There is no such learning. It’s a written rule that to make your comeback after a break, you have to play domestic cricket to prove your fitness. I just want to keep my head down and continue working on my game," he said.

After being snubbed from the contract list, Kishan made his return to competitive cricket while playing for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the 18th DY Patil T20 Cup 2024 against Route Mobile Limited.

He went on to feature for the five-time champion Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

In 14 matches, the southpaw batter racked up 320 runs at an average of 22.86, scoring at a strike rate of 148.84.

Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul certain to return in Sri Lanka ODIs

Shreyas Iyer, despite losing his national contract for missing domestic cricket, is expected to make the squad. Iyer was captain of the 2024 IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders, for whom Gambhir was the team mentor.

Another player who will be back in action is KL Rahul. It will be interesting to see if still remains the first-choice keeper now that Rishabh Pant has regained his full fitness.

The other members unavailable for the ODIs are Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah rested) and Mohammed Shami (injured).

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