How Team India could lineup for the first game of Nidahas Trophy

Middle Order

Suresh Raina will be the key for India with his valuable experience

In the absence of regular skipper Virat Kohli, all hopes will be harbored on the shoulders of Suresh Raina who is coming back from an impressive outing in South Africa.

Having scored vital 43 runs along with a wicket in the final T20I, Raina will go to Sri Lanka with a lot of confidence. Fondly called as Mr.IPL for his consistency in the cash-rich league, Raina has wealth of experience in T20Is after scoring nearly 1400 runs in 68 games for the country. His good form with the bat coupled with his right arm off-break should bode well for Team India.

Manish Pandey should be an ideal replacement for Kohli at No.4 as he is in good form at the moment after having a good T20 series in South Africa. Pandey scored 79* in the second T20I and looked in good touch throughout the series. He would look to push his case in the One Day setup with a superlative performance in the Tri-Series.

Dinesh Karthik will be the first choice keeper and should bat at five for the whole tournament. Let's not forget, his back-to-back boundaries were the difference in the end at Cape Town.

The selectors have done well to give a second chance to Wicket Keeping batsman Pant after ignoring him for a year. The dashing 20-year-old could provide a late flourish with his hard-hitting strokeplay.