Dhawan to lead a new look Indian side as 6 cricketers in close contact with Krunal to miss remainder of T20 series
Xtra Time Web Desk: It is going to be a huge challenge for Shikhar Dhawan as he will lead a new look Indian side in the remaining two T20Is against Sri Lanka as all the six cricketers who were in close contacts with Krunal Pandya will have to remain in isolation. Despite testing negative last night, the seven Indian cricketers including Krunal Pandya will not be allowed to take any part in the remaining two T20Is on Wednesday and Thursday. The six cricketers include the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Devdutt Padikkal and Krishnappa Gowtham.
Despite 6 close contacts of Krunal Pandya testing negative for Covid in the fresh round of RT-PCR test, all of them have been ruled out of the remaining two matches of the T20 series, set to conclude on July 29. The team management will now have to field a new look Indian side for the remaining two T20Is. The touring party has 20 cricketers in main squad and 4 reserve players.
The most worrying thing is that both Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav are among the eight players who have been identified as Krunal’s close contacts. Shaw and Yadav were on Monday named as replacements to fly from Colombo to England, to join the Indian team gearing up for the five Test matches against England.
While Shaw and Yadav are set to play the remaining two T20Is in Colombo, it’s clear that they will not be able to fly to England anytime soon.
