Team India will be boosted by vice-captain Rohit Sharma’s comeback for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka in February-March. Rohit, who was set to tour SA as a Test opener for the first time in his career, was ruled out of the series due to a hamstring injury. It also ruled him out of the three ODIs, which kick off on January 19.

As per PTI, Rohit will be back for the home series and will kick off the proceedings with KL Rahul. The report adds that Shubman Gill, who missed the SA tour due to an injury, will be batting in the middle-order. Even though he is an opener, the team combination might let him bat in the middle as a few spots are up for grabs there.

The report in PTI suggests that seniors Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara are expected to be dropped. Both the players were backed during the SA tour and played all three Test matches. Rahane, who lost his vice-captaincy before the tour, scored 136 runs while Pujara managed 124 runs.

With the likes of Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer waiting for regular chances, it will be interesting to see if the selectors continue to back the seniors or not.

Iyer made his Test debut against New Zealand where Vihari has been part of the team since 2018. Though he has never got a consistent run and only got to play the 2nd Test against SA due to Virat Kohli’s back issues. He was out of the side when the skipper returned in the final Test.

While some changes are expected in the batting line-up, the bowling line-up might also have a few changes as Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel will be back if fit. The two Test matches will be played in Bengaluru and Mohali from February 25 and March 2, respectively. The two teams will also square off in 3 T20Is.