Sri Lanka faced off against Team India in the third T20I match of India’s tour of Sri Lanka. It was the deciding game, with the team having problems with their squad. That was, post the fact that Krunal Pandya tested positive for Covid-19. With that being said, as many as seven players had to be quarantined for precaution.
This made things really complicated and Team India just couldn’t cope with their C-Team playing. They lost both the T20 games and eventually the series.
The Squads Of The Two Teams And Which Players Would Play For Team India And Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka squad: Dasun Shanaka (c), Dhananjaya De Silva, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ashen Bandara, Minod Bhanuka, Lahiru Udara, Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Binura Fernando, Dushmantha Chameera, Lakshan Sandakan, Akila Dananjaya, Shiran Fernando, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Ishan Jayaratne, Praveen Jayawickrama, Asitha Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Isuru Udana.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers have put them on the front seat in both the games in the series. The likes of Dushmantha Chameera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dasun Shanaka and Isuru Udana have time and again choked the dangerous-looking Indian middle order. And in the last game, by grounding India to 132, Sri Lanka won by four wickets.
Read More: Brad Hogg Makes Huge Prediction About Indian Batsman
India squad: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya
As coach Rahul Dravid said – the Indian team is playing with all available players at this time. They don’t have many options to explore after Kruna Pandya tested positive for COVID-19. Four Indians made their debut in the second T20, where India lost by four wickets. Except for Shikhar Dhawan’s 40 and a decent 28 by Devdutt Padikkal, not other batsman managed to adapt to the conditions.
Their bowling has been bearing all the weight. Bhuvneshwar Kumar coming into form is a positive sight for India. Kuldeep Yadav bowled exceptionally well in the last game and is likely to be included in the side. Navdeep Saini injuring himself can be a sign of trouble though.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
India and Sri Lanka had faced each other 20 times in T20Is. India had won 13 matches and the Lankans have emerged victorious on six occasions.
Venue: Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Colombo has so far looked like a pretty sluggish wicket. Batsmen on both sides have struggled to get runs. By the end of the first innings, the wicket is bound to slow down and cause further difficulties. The result of the decision will be dependent upon the batsmen. The team whose batting order adapts better wins the game and the series.
What Happened In The Game Between Team India And Sri Lanka?
The struggle for Team India continued. The visitors won the toss and chose to bat. They were really poor from the get-go and just crumbled like a packet of cards. They just couldn’t handle the pressure and Wanindu Hasaranga dominated the game with four wickets to his name. In his four overs, he picked up figures of 4/9. He claimed the Player Of The Match And Player Of The Series awards.
Team India managed to reach a meagre 81/8 in their 20 overs. They never looked in the game from there on and lost by seven wickets. There were still 6.3 overs left to play, which meant it was quite a comfortable win for the hosts.
Not the result that the Indian fans wanted. However, these were circumstances that could have not been foreseen. Team India can only go up from this point and hopefully, they do just that. Let’s wait and watch!!
