SL vs IND 2021: [Watch] The heartwarming moments when 5 Indian players received their debut caps
With the series already in the bag, Team India handed five players their ODI debuts in the ongoing third and final ODI against Sri Lanka. Nitish Rana, Sanju Samson, Krishnappa Gowtham, Chetan Sakariya and Rahul Chahar made their international debuts today (July 23) in the 50-over format.
The BCCI posted a clip sharing the moment the players were handed their caps. As expected, the whole Indian team was jubiliant when the players came up to get their maiden cap. You can watch the video here:
Team India won the toss in the third ODI and elected to bat first. After losing two consecutive tosses, Shikhar Dhawan was delighted to finally call it right and did a thigh-five celebration.
India are currently on 147-3 after 23 overs. Prithvi Shaw provided a brisk start for the side but was dismissed for run-a-ball 49. Rain then decided to play spoilsport in Colombo with Manish Pandey (10*) and Suryakumar Yadav (22*) at the crease for India.
Aakash Chopra was not in favor of Team India making too many changes in the 3rd ODI
With India already securing a series win, many expected them to ring in the changes in the third ODI. However, Aakash Chopra argued that the players on the current tour might not get to play again for some time once the tour ends. Dropping them for others wouldn't do much justice to the players after handing them debuts earlier in the series as these players would be expected to get dropped once the T20I series begins.
Before the third ODI, Chopra had stated on ESPNCricinfo:
"I understand people might want to see Chetan Sakariya, Navdeep Saini, Nitish Rana. We have 6 uncapped players. I think it won't be fair to them as well. As soon as we play them in the final game (of the ODI series), then again they will not get their chances as the T20 series will begin. It's better to carry on with the continuity."
The last time India handed as many as five debuts in an ODI game was way back in 1980. Dilip Doshi, Kirti Azad, Roger Binny, Sandeep Patil & Tirumalai Srinivasan played their first ODI game against Australia at the MCG.