India vs Sri Lanka 2nd T20I: India add 5 net bowlers to T20I squad; see revised squad

Colombo, July 28: Despite Krunal Pandya testing positive for Covid 19 and seven more players to miss the action, the remaining two T20Is will be played on schedule on Wednesday (July 28) and Thursday (July 29). Since a total of 8 players set to miss these matches, India have added five net bowlers to the squad to have a pool to select from.

The net bowlers are: Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore and Simarjeet Singh. Now, they will be part of the squad for the remaining two T20Is. The players to miss the matches are: Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Prithvi Shaw, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and K Gowtham.

There were doubts over the availability of skipper Shikhar Dhawan but he has been cleared to play the match and is set to lead India on to the field at the R Premadasa Stadium. However, the support staff is unlikely to accompany the team to the ground.

Earlier, the COVID-19 test conducted on the close contacts of Krunal Pandya had returned negative, and subsequently the entire Indian contingent too was subject to Rapid Antigen Test. The test results of the rest of the players came negative, paving the ground for the resumption of the T20I series.

With Ishan Kishan set to miss the match, wicketkeeping duty could fall on Sanju Samson while Devdutt Padikkal might get his India debut in the place of Shaw, while others like Ruturaj Gaikwad and Nitish Rana should get the SOS call to the playing 11, leaving Dhawan and Samson as the only batsmen to have experience of international cricket.

India's revised squad for 2nd and 3rd T20Is: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Rana, Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Rahul Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-captain), Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya, Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, Simarjeet Singh.