Hardik Pandya to lead India in T20Is vs Sri Lanka

New Delhi, December 27

Hardik Pandya will captain India for their T20 International series against Sri Lanka next week in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who will return for the following One-day Internationals, the BCCI said today.

India will host Sri Lanka for three T20Is and three ODIs from January 3, with Pandya reprising his role as T20 captain for a second straight series, after leading India to victory over New Zealand in November.

Pandya, who captained the Gujarat Titans to the Indian Premier League title this year in their debut season, will also serve as vice-captain under Rohit for the ODI series.

Rohit missed this month’s Test series against Bangladesh after sustaining a blow to the thumb during the preceding ODI matches.

Virat Kohli and KL Rahul will not feature in the T20I series, while batter Shikhar Dhawan was not included in the ODI squad after scoring just 18 runs across three matches in Bangladesh. In Rohit’s absence, Dhawan had captained India in the ODI series against the West Indies, South Africa and New Zealand earlier this year. Rishabh Pant missed out on both squads. — Reuters

Pak yet to breach New Zealand wall

Karachi: New Zealand’s opening pair of left-handed batters responded with a solid 165 in their first Test today after Agha Salman had scored his first Test century and led Pakistan to 438. Devon Conway (in pic) and Tom Latham batted confidently against the challenging spin of Abrar Ahmed on a dry wicket to remain unbeaten on 82 and 78, respectively, at stumps on the second day. AP

Brief scores: Pakistan 438 (Babar 161, Salman 103; Southee 3/69); NZ 165/0 (Conway 82*, Latham 78*).