With India managing to put a team for the second T20I, all eyes will again be on the management when they take on hosts in the final T20I in Colombo. India had to do without eight players who were termed as close contacts of Krunal Pandya who was infected with Covid-19. Now, the Men in Blue face a new problem as they will be without Navdeep Saini. He was called into the squad in absence of the likes of Krunal and Hardik Pandya, but injured himself during the second game in Colombo.
India were having a good time but it seems the tide have now changed for the Men in Blue. The Shikhar Dhawan led side, which is already missing key eight players due to Covid-19’s stringent protocol, will now may miss another fast bowler. Yes, Navdeep Saini had sustained a shoulder injury and this may mean that he won’t be available for the third and final T20I against Sri Lanka tonight.
Now the question is who will replace Saini? All four net bowlers — Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Simarjeet Singh and R Sai Kishore — have been included the main team with nine players unavailable. Chances are that Warrier will be the first-choice to replace the Delhi cricketer; also in the fray would be Porel. The Bengal speedster was part of India’s under-19 world cup winning squad back in 2018.
ProbableXI: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Ruturaj Gaekwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Warrier, Kuldeep Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Chetan Sakariya, Varun Chakrawarthy
The incident took place during Sri Lanka’s chase last night at Colombo. Saini was fielding at extra cover when he tried to catch a ball hit by Chamika Karunaratne. Although Saini leapt into the air, he couldn’t reach the ball. Later, he landed on his shoulder and winced in pain.
India were having a good time but it seems the tide have now changed for the Men in Blue. The Shikhar Dhawan led side, which is already missing key eight players due to Covid-19’s stringent protocol, will now may miss another fast bowler. Yes, Navdeep Saini had sustained a shoulder injury and this may mean that he won’t be available for the third and final T20I against Sri Lanka tonight. (Cricket next)