IND vs SL 1st T20I: The first match of the three-match T20 series will be played between India and Sri Lanka today (27 July, Saturday). This will be a historic match from the point of view of Indian cricket. With this match, we will see the beginning of a new era in Team India. This new era will start with head coach Gautam Gambhir and T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav. The mission of this new era will be the T20 World Cup of 2026.
Let us tell you that the first match of the T20 series between India and Sri Lanka will be held at Pallekele International Stadium in Pallekele. According to Indian time, the match will start at 7 pm. All three matches of the T20 series will be played in Pallekele only.
New era of Team India
The Indian team won the 2024 T20 World Cup title by defeating South Africa in the final. After becoming world champions, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja had announced their retirement from T20 International. With the end of the World Cup, the tenure of head coach Rahul Dravid also ended.
After Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav was made the captain of T20. Whereas Gautam Gambhir became the head coach of the Indian team. After Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya was being seen as the T20 captain of India. Then, keeping in mind Hardik’s poor fitness record, Suryakumar Yadav was given the command of the T20 team. Although no official announcement has been made that Surya will remain the captain of the T20 team till the 2026 T20 World Cup, but it is believed that he will hold the command till the next T20 World Cup.
If we talk about Gautam Gambhir, he was seen as the mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2024 IPL. KKR won the title as soon as Gambhir became its mentor. Since then, the discussion about Gambhir becoming the next head coach of Team India intensified and ultimately this happened.
T20 and ODI series will be held on Sri Lanka tour
It is noteworthy that during the Sri Lanka tour, Team India will play 3-match T20 and 3-match ODI series. First there will be T20 series which will be played between 27th to 30th July. Then there will be an ODI series between 02 to 07 August.