A new chapter begins!

Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir in Colombo yesterday. Pic/PTI

The start of one new era out of the way, a more significant new phase in Indian cricket will formally kick off on Friday, with the first of three ODIs against Sri Lanka. New head coach Gautam Gambhir renewed his association with T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav last week. On Wednesday, for the first time since his appointment, he caught up with ODI and Test captain Rohit Sharma at the R Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday evening, not long after making the three-hour drive from Pallekele.

Plenty to look forward to

As a leadership group, Rohit and Gambhir have plenty to look forward to over the next six months. A string of five home Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand will segue into a five-match showdown in Australia, to be followed by the 50-over Champions Trophy in February-March.

Including this faceoff against a severely depleted Sri Lankan side - they will now be without injured pacers Dilshan Madushanka (hamstring) and Matheesha Pathirana (shoulder) for the duration of the series - India have a total of six ODIs before the said Champions Trophy. And while Rohit was loath to term this series as a preparatory exercise, there is no denying that India will have one eye on slots to fill and players to break in ahead of the Champions Trophy, to be staged for the first time since 2017.

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Neither Rohit nor Virat Kohli has played an ODI since the loss to Australia in the World Cup final last November. Indeed, India's last 50-over international was on December 21, when they defeated South Africa in Paarl by 78 runs to seal a three-match series 2-1.

In Rohit's absence, KL Rahul had led the side and kept wickets; now that Rishabh Pant is back, the management team has a tricky call to make - continue with Rahul, who has been an outstanding success at No. 4 and 5 in his guise as a wicketkeeper-batter, or go with Pant, without whom there will be a distinct lack of left-handedness in the top six. Shreyas Iyer's inclusion means if India do play both Rahul and Pant, they will be left with only five bowling options, offering absolutely no insurance against a bad day in office for one of the specialist bowlers.

To say that Rohit, Kohli and Pant - whose last ODI was in November 2022 - will need to reacquaint themselves with the 50-over game will be a gross overstatement. Especially when it comes to the present captain and his predecessor, the experience quotient is humongous. It's just a question of relying on muscle memory to start with; normal service will follow suit almost immediately.

SL have mountain to climb

Smarting from their hat-trick of collapses in the T20Is, Sri Lanka have a mountain to climb against a reinforced, even more dangerous Indian line-up. They will have to contend with the additional threat of Kuldeep Yadav, to whom Rohit will look for wickets more than control in the middle overs.