“It’s A Dream Come True” – Devdutt Padikkal On Team India Call-Up

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s opener Devdutt Padikkal was elated post his selection in Team India’s squad for the upcoming white-ball series against Sri Lanka. The squad will be playing a 3-match ODI series followed by as many T20I’s.

The Indian Test team is currently in England and will take on the hosts in a 5-match Test series starting on August 4. Due to quarantine times, it was termed impractical for them to travel all the way to Sri Lanka. Instead, the BCCI selected a second-string team which will be led by Shikhar Dhawan. Rahul Dravid was appointed as the head coach in what will be his first senior venture.

Team India has as many as six uncapped players, and Devdutt Padikkal is one of them. After a couple of excellent seasons with RCB, the Karnataka batsman received a well-deserved call-up to the national team. While his place in the playing XI isn’t confirmed, he was grateful for the opportunity. He expressed it was his lifelong dream of playing for the country.

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Onwards and upwards from here on out, DDP! 🙌🏻#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #TeamIndia #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/jMjSNvrdHQ

— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) July 12, 2021

Team India’s ODI series against Sri Lanka will start on July 18

There was a bit of panic in the Sri Lankan dressing room after batting coach Andy Flower tested positive for coronavirus. He was pushed into isolation following his arrival in Colombo. The Sri Lankan team’s quarantine after arriving from England was also extended as a result. Therefore, the series against India is now set to be rescheduled to July 18 instead of July 13.

“We can’t help the situation. These are the kind of times we are living in, the team will have to follow all health protocols as directed by the authorities. Yes, it is correct the players who will be selected from the squad who were in England are unlikely to get net session before 1st game against India. The good part is none of them have tested positive in the 1st test”, Pramodya Wickramasinghe, Sri Lanka’s selector said.

Dasun Shanaka was announced as the new captain of the Sri Lankan team. He will be their tenth different captain of the Lankan ODI team in the past four years.

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