IND vs SL 2021: [Watch] 4 Indian players handed T20I caps ahead of second match
After facing unforeseen circumstances due to the COVID outbreak in their camp, the Indian team had to include four debutants into their playing XI for the second T20I against Sri Lanka today.
Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Rana, Ruthuraj Gaikwad, and Chetan Sakariya are going to play their first T20 international in the game. They already are regulars in the playing XIs of their respective teams in the IPL.
India playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan(c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson(w), Nitish Rana, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya, Varun Chakravarthy.
Sri Lanka playing XI: Avishka Fernando, Minod Bhanuka(w), Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dasun Shanaka(c), Ramesh Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera.
Team India is playing with six bowlers and five batsmen in this game due to the unavailability of another batsman. Head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed before the toss that only 11 players are currently available for selection for today's game.
Squad and updates for the last 2 T20I games
The BCCI has confirmed that eight players who were in close contact with Krunal Pandya will remain unavailable for the series even though they returned with negative RT-PCR tests.
Due to the situation, five net bowlers, Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, R Sai Kishore, and Simarjeet Singh, have been added to the main squad for the remaining games in the series.
The BCCI media advisory said:
"Based on the request of the Indian team management in Sri Lanka, the All-India Senior Selection Committee has named additions to India’s squad for the second and third T20Is. The five net bowlers – Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, R Sai Kishore, and Simarjeet Singh - will now be part of the squad for the remaining T20Is."