SL vs IND 2021: Devdutt Padikkal Becomes First 21st Century Cricketer To Play For India

Devdutt Padikkal, who made his debut for Team India in the 2nd T20I against Sri Lanka in Colombo became the first 21st-century cricketer to play for the Men in Blue. India were forced to field four debutants after nine cricketers were ruled out of the series due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

Meanwhile, after a long wait, Padikkal has finally managed to earn his maiden international cap. He first grabbed eyeballs during the IPL 2020 and since then has been in the best of form. He finished as the second-highest run-scorer in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and backed it up in the IPL before it was halted due to the COVID-19 crisis.

With Krunal Pandya testing positive for Covid, the second T20I which was originally supposed to take place on Tuesday was abandoned till Wednesday. As many as eight players were identified as close contacts to Krunal and while each of them tested negative for the virus, they were deemed unavailable for the second T20I.

Those players are Ishan Kishan, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya.

Irrespective of the circumstances under which he has earned his maiden T20I cap, it is a richly deserved feat by Devdutt Padikkal, who has impressed one and all with his performance in both List A and T20 cricket for his state team as well as for Virat Kohl’s Royal Challengers Bangalore.

India post 132 runs after asked to bat first

The Men in Blue got off to a slow start after Sri Lanka asked them to bat first. Debutant Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shikhar Dhawan got off to a flying start before Devdutt Padikkal came out in the middle.

He scored a crucial knock of 29 runs from 23 deliveries before the Islanders chipped in with a couple of crucial wickets. Ultimately, they managed to post 132 runs in their quota of 20 overs. India have a couple of bowlers in their ranks and will look to defend the total and win the series.