New Delhi: Having enjoyed a well-earned break coming into the new year, Virat Kohli’s India are set to get back onto the field when they take on Sri Lanka at the Baraspara Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday in the first of three T20s. Considering the security issues there were in the wake of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill — now an act — the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as well as the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) were keeping a close eye on the situation. But all is under control according to ACA President Romen Dutta.
Dutta said that the police has been handed the responsibility of managing the security.
“Yes, there was some unrest before, but all is under control now. We have handed over the stadium and all other responsibility with regards to the two teams to the police and they are keeping an eye to ensure that everything is under control,” he said.
Surprisingly, he said that the India players will be arriving only on Friday morning whereas members in the Indian team management confirmed that they are assembling on Thursday night itself.
“The Sri Lankan team is coming today at 4pm and the Indian team will come tomorrow morning,” Dutta said on Thursday.
But a member of the Indian team said: “We are assembling tonight in Guwahati.”
The Indian team are focusing more on playing T20s as they gear up for the World T20 in November in Australia. It all starts with the series against Sri Lanka. Keeping in mind the workload on senior players like Rohit Sharma, the Indian selectors decided to give the limited-overs deputy a break from the series and his position in the team has gone to opener Shikhar Dhawan.
Before this, regular skipper Virat Kohli was given a break during the T20 series against Bangladesh and Rohit led the team. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah too will return to the team during the series after recovering from a stress fracture that kept him out of action after India’s tour of West Indies.
