Indian team under the leadership of Rohit Sharma will take on Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series and a two-match Test series. The T20I series will start on February 24, in Lucknow. But in a major upset the Sri Lanka cricket team will not have their all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga in the three-match T20I series as he is yet to recover from the Covid-19 virus.
Wanindu Hasaranga, who was in isolation after contracting the Covid-19 virus, was again, tested positive when a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) was conducted on the player on February 22. A PCR test too confirmed the result.
It is important to mention that the 24-year-old all-rounder was initially found to be positive during a RAT conducted on February 15.
The player was sent to Melbourne from Canberra and he is expected to remain in isolation until he returns a negative PCR test report.
Indian team, on the other hand, travelled to Lucknow after winning the T20I series 3-0 against West Indies in Kolkata but Indian team management is currently facing plenty of injuries as middle order batsman Suryakumar Yadav and all-rounder Deepak Chahar were previously ruled out of the T20I series.
Indian team's injury concern
Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav was ruled out of the upcoming T20I series. The 31-year-old batsman suffered a hairline fracture during a fielding attempt in the third and final T20I against the West Indies in Kolkata. It is important to mention that Yadav was spotted at India's practice session in Lucknow on Tuesday (February 24).
Apart from Suryakumar, Indian all-rounder Deepak Chahar was also ruled out of the T20I series as well after he sustained a right quadriceps injury during bowling.
Suryakumar and Chahar are now expected to head to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for further assessment of their injuries.
India's victory against West Indies
In the recently concluded T20I and ODI series, the hosts displayed a dominating show as they whitewashed West Indies. In the three-match ODI series, played in Ahmedabad, Rohit Sharma’s men secured a 3-0 victory. Later, in the T20I series, played in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, the results were not much different as the visitors once again had to suffer an excruciating 3-0 defeat.
After playing the first T20I against Sri Lanka, the hosts will travel to Dharamshala to play the remaining two T20I matches (February 26 and February 27).
After the completion of the T20I series, the two teams are slated to play a two-match Test series. The first Test match of the series will start on March 4 in Mohali. The final Test match will be played in Bengaluru, on March 12.
India T20I squad:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Avesh Khan
