EXPLAINED: Why Rishabh Pant isn't part of India's home white-ball series vs Sri Lanka

The BCCI selecton committee, led by outgoing chief Chetan Sharma, selected India's white-ball squads for their upcoming home assignments versus Sri Lanka, starting on January 03. While Hardik Pandya was named the T20I captain, Rohit Sharma will continue to lead in ODIs and make his return straightaway during the 50-over series -- after a thumb injury he suffered during the Bangladesh tour. Meanwhile, the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rishabh Pant didn't find a mention in both the squads whereas veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan was dropped from the ODI setup after his stocks having fallen considerably in recent times.

There has been no update shared by the selectors regarding the absence of Bhuvi and Pant. While a lot has been said and written about Pant's T20I career, which has still not taken off, he was expected to be a part of the ODI squad versus the Lankans. However, no reason was provided regarding his absence.According to several reports, it has been revealed that the swashbuckling keeper-batter has been left out to be able to recover from the niggle that he has been carrying in his knee for quite sometime.

According to reports in The Times of India, Rev Sportz, and Sports Tak, Pant has hada niggle on his knee for quite sometime and has, thus, been rested from the SL series. It is believed thatthe youngster has been asked to report atthe National Cricket Academy (NCA), in Bengaluru, from January 3 for 15 days to work on his knee and regain full fitness before the upcoming New Zealand and Australia series on home soil.

In Pant's absence, Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul are India's wicketkeepers in the ODI setup whereas Ishan and Sanju Samson are the two glovesman present in the T20I line-up.

India’s squad for Sri Lanka T20Is:Hardik Pandya (Captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (VC), Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar.

India’s squad for Sri Lanka ODIs:Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (VC), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.