Hardik Pandya rested for three-Test India vs Sri Lanka series due to heavy workload

Hardik Pandya has been rested for the three-Test series between India and Sri Lanka. The Baroda all-rounder was earlier named in the Indian cricket team squad for the first two Test matches.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India said Pandya was rested to manage his workload. The 24-year-old has been playing virtually non-stop cricket , including making his Test debut against Sri Lanka in Galle in July 2017.

The national selectors have not named a replacement for Pandya, who seemed to have hurt his left hand during the rain-hit T20 match against New Zealand on Tuesday.

The squad for the first two Test vs Sri Lanka is as follows: Virat Kohli (captain), KL Rahul, Murali Vijay,



Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma.

Meanwhile, Sanju Samson will captain the Board President's XI for the warm-up match against Sri Lanka after Naman Ojha was ruled out due to injury. Anmolpreet Singh has been added to the squad. The match starts in Kolkata on Sunday.

Board President's XI squad: Sanju Samson (C) (WK), Jiwanjot Singh, B Sandeep, Tanmay Agarwal, Abhishek Gupta, Rohan Prem, Akash Bhandari, Jalaj Saxena, Chama Milind, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Ravi Kiran, Anmolpreet Singh.