Team India has four debutants for the second T20I against Sri Lanka. Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Rana, and Chetan Sakariya are all part of the team. They were handed their debut cap prior to the toss.
The decision was forced on the Men in Blue after Krunal Pandya tested positive on July 27, Tuesday. There were eight players in addition to him that were placed in isolation. As a result, they will not be taking part in the series. Head coach Rahul Dravid mentioned the same.
“Unfortunately the close contacts of Krunal won’t be playing a part in the series. We have 11 players available and we will play them. There is nothing to feel sorry about,” the former Indian batsman confirmed.
“It is exciting to see them perform” – Rahul Dravid on the four debutantes
All set for the GAME! #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/83zpzF8iJf
— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) July 28, 2021
Although India will be depleted on the batting front, they came in stacked with bowlers. Prior to the second T20I, BCCI announced that the five net bowlers part of the tour were added to the main squad. But none of them will be making their debuts just yet.
The four debutants have already had significant performances in the IPL and will be raring to go for India in the second T20I. They are inexperienced at the international level but Rahul Dravid was confident in their abilities.
“All the 11 are good enough to make the 11 and that’s why they were picked in the squad. I feel it is exciting to see them perform. Yes, the balance of the side will be a little fragile because we can only pick from the players available,” Dravid stated prior to the start of the game.
Team India’s playing XI for the second T20I: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (wk), Nitish Rana, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya, Varun Chakravarthy
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