Team India had to enter the match with the remaining 11 players after nine players were separated in the second T20 International match of the three-match series between India and Sri Lanka. The Kovid-19 test found Karnal Pandya to be positive and the remaining eight players were isolated due to their close contact. The team’s management had to field the remaining 11 players. Before the match, the team’s head coach Rahul Dravid also jokingly said that we got 11 players to choose from and all were playing. Dravid said before the match that when you select 10-15 players on the team, you have to take them to the field.
Rahul Dravid said, ‘When we took a 2-0 lead in the ODI series, we gave the new players the opportunity to play in the ODI series. But given the circumstances here, we have to do this before we win the series. But when you get a selection of 15-20 players in Team India, it seems to me that you deserve to play in the playing XI. I don’t think the selectors will pick players for the reason that they are sitting on the bench or on holidays.
Of the 11 players who played in the second T20 international against Sri Lanka, four played their first T20 internationals. Speaking of the match, Sri Lanka again won the toss and decided to bowl first against India. Skipper Shikhar Dhawan played 40 innings, but for that he faced 42 deliveries. The innings began with Dhawan making his debut but was dismissed for 21 off 18 balls. Then Devadat Padikkal came in and scored 29 runs. Padikal faced 23 deliveries. Sanju Samson was again disappointed and dismissed for just 7 runs, while Nitish Rana did not go beyond 9. India were 132 for five in 20 overs. Akila Dhananjay took two wickets. In reply Sri Lanka won the match by scoring 133 runs for the loss of six wickets in 19.4 overs. Dhananjay de Silva returned unbeaten on 40 off 34 balls and became the man of the match award.
