SL vs IND: Navdeep Saini to undergo scans after shoulder injury

Indian pacer Navdeep Saini was ruled out of the third T20I against Sri Lanka in Colombo, having injured his left shoulder during the second T20I on July 28. A BCCI tweet on July 29 informed that the pacer “might have to undergo scans to ascertain the extent of his injury.”

India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey had informed yesterday about Saini being monitored constantly by the BCCI medical team. Saini did not bowl even a single over in the previous T20I and had to leave the field in the penultimate over of the Sri Lanka innings, as he fell awkwardly on the ground while attempting a catch at extra cover.

With as many as eight players isolated after Krunal Pandya tested positive for Covid-19, a depleted Indian side lost the match by four wickets eventually.

Meanwhile, Paras Mhambrey “In Navdeep’s case, I think the medical team is handling him. We will assess the situation, maybe tonight or in the morning and take a decision accordingly. And I think, once the decision is finalised and conveyed to the selectors and the coach, I think we will go ahead and then if needed we need to make any changes, we will do that,” he added.

India hand five debut cap in two matches

India handed four debut caps in the second T20I after the BCCI decided to isolate eight players who were all Covid-19 positive Krunal Pandya’s close contacts. With Suryakumar Yadav, Prithvi Shaw, Hardik Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Manish Pandey, K Gowtham and Ishan Kishan no more in the reckoning, India had to hand debut caps to Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Chetan Sakariya.

After Saini’s exit, India handed a fifth debut cap as Sandeep Warrier was brought in for the third and final T20I. Although, India had a dismal outing as they could only post 81/8 from their designated 20 overs. India’s innings never got going with Sri Lanka making early inroads. While the visitors had taken a 1-0 lead, they could not capitalize on that.