India tour of Sri Lanka 2021 News

India’s Yuzvendra Chahal and Krishnappa Gowtham have tested positive for Covid-19 days after they were included in the list of close contacts of Krunal Pandya, ESPNcricinfo reported. The duo was excluded from the squad along with the other six close contacts and they will be staying back in Sri Lanka while the remaining players and support staff are set to return to India immediately after the conclusion of the tour, the report added. Krunal’s contraction of Covid-19 changed the outlook for India both on and off the field. He was shifted outside the team hotel while eight other players were separated from the squad albeit in the same hotel. Now, as Chahal and Gowtham test positive, positivity in other six members of the squad that comprise Hardik Pandya, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Deepak Chahar and Ishan Kishan can’t be ruled out from the outset. India lost the T20 series to Sri Lanka 1-2 after not having enough reinforcement in the batting department, and the hosts picked up momentum just at the right time.

Rahul Dravid who accompanied India to their tour of Sri Lanka said that he wasn’t disappointed at the failure of the young guns. He feels that the youngsters will learn from this exposure and will improve by playing in more challenging conditions which was on offer in Sri Lanka. India lost the three-match T20 series 1-2 after losing out as many as nine of their first-choice players. The likes Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Rana and Sanju Samson struggled against a quality spin attack led by Wanindu Hasaranga and Akila Dananjaya. Despite their poor outings, Rahul Dravid is hopeful of them learning from the series. He is of the opinion that this experience will help them develop the art of digging it out in low scoring affairs and difficult pitches. "I am not disappointed as they are young. They are going to learn and get better only when they are exposed to these kind of conditions and quality of bowling. Sri Lankan team's bowling attack is an international bowling attack," Dravid said while assessing the overall performance in the series. Dravid blamed the friendly pitches in domestic cricket for the inability of young Indian batsmen to play quality spin. He admitted that there is a lot to learn for the young crop of batsmen of how to counter quality spinners on challenging tracks. "They would have liked to score a few more runs. They now have an opportunity to reflect that not all wickets are going to be flat. We need to find ways to scrap and score 130, 140 on these wickets," Dravid observed. "It's really a good learning as they are all young players. This is a great opportunity to reflect on these performances and may come up with some slightly better strategies. Let me be fair, we don't get these kinds of conditions very often in T20 cricket but when you do, I think, you have a responsibility to play slightly better," the head of National Cricket Academy said. Dravid was of the opinion that players of their generation had their fair share of struggles. He felt that the yesteryear batsmen played on spin-friendly track with some even being underprepared. "I think the wickets in domestic cricket may have got better -- one thing that is probably different when I was sort of starting while growing up the wickets tended to turn a little bit more. Honestly some of the wickets we used to play used to be under-prepared but wickets have got a bit better in Ranji Trophy which is great. I don't think the talent is missing it's just that you need the experience to figure out a few more stroke-making options in these kinds of pitches," he added. Barring skipper Shikhar Dhawan, India didn’t have an experienced batsman which proved to be their nemesis in the T20I series. Dravid felt that the blend of youth and experience wasn’t there in the last two matches owing to the unavailability of several first-choice players owing to strict covid protocols after Krunal Pandya tested positive for the virus. "It needs time and experience and you need to blood young players with experienced players so that you have that cushion. Obviously, last couple of games, we didn't have that cushion, most of the guys other than Shikhar were young."

Former Indian skipper Rahul Dravid who was the coach of the Indian team during their white-ball series against Sri Lanka stated that he has not yet thought of taking up this role on a permanent basis. He is currently the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and visited with the Indian team to the island nation as Ravi Shastri was busy with the Test squad in England where they are busy preparing for the five-match Test series slated to begin on 4th August. Dravid admitted that there are a lot of challenges with full-time roles and despite enjoying his stint in Sri Lanka he hasn’t thought of anything far ahead. “I have enjoyed this experience but I have not thought of anything far ahead. I have been doing what I am doing,” he said I have not given any other thought but this tour and getting through the tour. I have enjoyed the experience of working with these guys, it has been great. I have not given any other thoughts to anything else. There are a lot of challenges in doing full-time roles, so I really don’t know,” Dravid further added. Dravid had earlier worked with the India U 19 team and was the coach when India lifted the U 19 title in 2018 under the captaincy of Prithvi Shaw. He has also with the Indian A teams but this was the first time he was working with the senior team. With as many as 9 players unavailable due to strict COVID protocols, India went onto lose the T20 series. Dravid felt that it wasn’t the easiest of conditions to bat on but agreed that Sanju Samson would be disappointed at the end of the series after his pretty ordinary showing. “It was not the easiest of conditions to bat in. In the one-day game that he got a chance, he got a very good start and got 46. In T20Is, it was a bit challenging, but yeah, when (you) would look back at the series, you would be a bit disappointed. But it’s not just Sanju, most of these young guys are talented and terrific players. We need to be patient with them,” Dravid said. “It was quite challenging after the first game, but I thought there are a lot of opportunities and learnings from games like these for the youngsters. It gives them exposure to international cricket. It is important for the players to hang in there and tackle the quality bowling line-up. The great positive for me is the way guys have fought," Dravid said.

After losing the T20I series against Sri Lanka by a 1-2 margin, the Indian cricket team left Sri Lanka on 30th July (Friday) after playing six white-ball matches over a course of 45 days. All-rounder Krunal Pandya who earlier tested positive for COVID-19 remains in mandatory isolation in Colombo and will fly back to India after his mandatory isolation provided he tests negative in the subsequent tests. It is still not known whether Suryakumar Yadav and Prithvi Shaw who has been included in the Indian squad for the upcoming five-match Test series against England has flown to the UK directly from Colombo or will return to India on a charter plane before flying out again. "Yes, only Krunal will have to stay back in Sri Lanka for the time being due to the mandatory isolation period of one week," a senior BCCI official was quoted as saying by PTI on the condition of anonymity. "After one week, if he has two negative RT-PCR reports, he will be allowed to fly back. Currently, he is in the fourth day of his isolation. All others are free to depart as they have all tested negative," he added. India’s tour of Sri Lanka was marred by the deadly virus. Firstly the start of the tour was delayed by five days after Sri Lanka batting coach Grant Flower and data analyst tested positive. Even the 2nd ODI had to be rescheduled after Krunal Pandya tested positive. All the eight other members deemed close contact of Krunal had to isolate themselves. The list included his brother Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Prithvi Shaw, Deepak Chahar, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ishan Kishan and Yuzvendra Chahal.

If you’re told that Sri Lanka will win the T20 series 2-1 and lose the ODI series 1-2 against India before the start of the tour, most definitely, you would have burst out laughing. There would have been nothing but excess optimism on the side of the person predicting such a strong Sri Lankan performance, while you would have backed all your arguments with non-contestable facts. Well, Cricket is a game of uncertainty and that any team on a given day can turn victorious irrespective of their past and future they potentially deserve are some of the age-old cliches of this game, and Sri Lanka dug deep to prove all of that right against India. On the night of the series decider, India were depleted once again with just five batsmen left to be picked from and the hosts buoyant after a strong win in the last game. India batted first after winning the toss in a decision that raised many eyebrows as it allowed Sri Lanka to attack their main weakness—a thin batting lineup. The problem compounded when an ever so impressive Dushmantha Chameera, who has walked away from the series with reputation several notch higher found the outside edge of Shikhar Dhawan’s bat to send Indian skipper back to pavilion on the first ball. By then, Ruturaj Gaikwad had already played a delightful cover drive but could not get going rapidly. His news partner Devdutt Padikkla struggled to get off the hook straight away and the mounting dot balls kept telling on him. Padikkal bats in a much organised manner but he really felt the pressure when Sri Lanka squeezed him for runs and ultimately led to his demise in a bizarre manner. Sanju Samson has not been able to read Sri Lanka’s emerging rockstar—Wanindu Hasaranga’s deliveries one bit in all the four matches he has played, and the story could not have been any similar. This time though, it was quite short as well and the leg spinner celebrating his 24th birthday sent back both Samson and Gaikwad in the same over to put a big question mark on India’s batting. Nitish Rana too failed to cash in on the perfect opportunity to become a hero while Bhuvneshwar Kumar fell in an attempt of making things happen with the bat. Hasaranage picked as many as four wickets, giving away only nine runs and India were staring at their historic lowest total in T20Is. Kuldeep Yadav batted with control and steered India past their lowest total in T20 international history but the score was not enough to stop highly-spirited hosts. India needed nothing short of a miracle to defend the score of 82 and Sri Lanka were in no mood to let go of the opportunity to win their first series against India in 13 years. Rahul Chahar provided India with timely breakthroughs but Sri Lanka had the luxury of time at the crease and in the end, they could nullify all India had to throw at them. India were plagued by Covid-19 and the writing was always on the wall with just five specialist batsmen to choose from in the last two games on the tour. However, those five batsmen left a lot to be desired and also did not enhance their reputation one bit. For Sri Lanka, the leadership of Shanaka brought much-needed calmness and assurance in the leadership position as he allowed people such as Hasaranga and Chmaika Karunaratne to take the centrestgae and own the flow of the game. The Sri Lankan team management deserves all the plaudits for turning things quickly after losing the second ODI of the series from a winning position.

Wanindu Hasaranga kept his domination with the ball and broke the backbone of the Indian batting lineup with another stellar performance. He conceded just nine runs and picked up four big wickets of Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Varun Chakravarthy. He started his bowling spell by outfoxing Samson with leg-breaks one after another and ultimately found him trapped in front of the stumps as India’s wicketkeeper was found rooted on backfoot. Then, in the same over, he trapped Gaikwad with a ripping googly. He later came back to dismiss a settled Bhuvneshwar Kumar courtesy of a cracking catch from skipper Dasun Shanaka at extra cover. Hasaranga was celebrating his 24th birthday today and he presented himself and his side a best possible gift in the form of a possible series win over India—their first since 2008 in any format of the game. India suffered a massive collapse of the batting order and were restricted to 81/8. They were on the verge of getting knocked out for their lowest T20 score in history but sizeable contributions from Kuldeep Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped them avert the historic low.