5 takeaways from India's ODI and T20 squad for the Sri Lanka series

#2 Manish Pandey back with a bang

Pandey is back in the team due to his successful run in India 'A'

Since his century in IPL in 2009 for RCB, Manish Pandey has somehow kept himself in the limelight.

The elegant batsman kept amassing impressive numbers in domestic cricket and also scored a match-winning hundred in his only third ODI innings. But injuries, inconsistency, and immense competition have prevented him from becoming a mainstay in India's national team.

However, he is once again back in India's ODI team and this time his inclusion was mandatory thanks to his heroics for the India 'A' side. In the tri-series between India, Afghanistan and South Africa, the right-hand batsman was the highest run scorer with 307 runs which included a mature 93* against South Africa 'A'.

Given his abilities and performances in the domestic cricket, he deserves a place in the playing XI. But, the presence of KL Rahul might make things tough for him.

But one thing is for sure, Pandey's inclusion in the team ensures that selectors do reward runs scored in domestic tournaments.

The inclusion of Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel also highlights that the selectors are looking at performances for the 'A' team as well.