The Indian opener, Mayank Agarwal has been added to Team India after they reached Dharamsala on Friday (February 25). He has been named as a replacement for Ruturaj Gaikwad, who will be missing the last two matches against Sri Lanka. Currently, India is leading the series by a 1-0 margin.
The Indian team management had put out a release before the first game in Lucknow on Gaikwad (25), who was unavailable for selection because of pain in his right wrist. A spokesman of team India had said, “Ruturaj Gaikwad complained of pain in his right wrist, which is affecting his batting. He was unavailable for selection for the first T20I. The BCCI Medical Team is examining him.”
According to sources of Cricbuzz in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Agarwal (31) had to be rushed to Dharamsala because he was available to join the squad at a short notice. The Indian Test players are currently quarantining in Chandigarh and Agarwal was one among them.
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The source added, “It was not difficult to send Agarwal in because it could easily a bubble-to-bubble transfer. He was in Chandigarh and he was immediately rushed.”
Ruturaj Gaikwad is the third Indian cricketer to get injured in the series after Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Chahar. The two suffered injuries during the last Twenty20 game against West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and could not make it to the team after being initially picked. The selectors did not name replacements for them because there were 16 other players to choose the XI from. After Ruturaj’s injury, the selectors and the team management did not want to take a chance.
For Sri Lanka, Spinner Maheesh Theekshana and Kusal Mendis have been ruled out of the ongoing T20I series against India with hamstring issues, Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed on Friday. Earlier, all-rounder, Wanindu Hasaranga was also ruled out as he tested positive after coming to India. However, pacer, Binura Fernando, who had tested positive for Covid-19 in Australia, has been medically cleared to begin regular training and should be available for selection for the two T20Is to be played in Dharamsala.
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India T20l squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Avesh Khan and Mayank Agarwal.
