Injuries offer chance to experiment as India host Sri Lanka in first T20I

The all-format India captain has revealed he intends to use the three-match T20I series as a chance to find some squad strength and identify the sort of players who could excel on Australian pitches.

And two gaps are waiting to be filled in Sharma's side after new-ball bowler Deepak Chahar and in-form batter Suryakumar Yadav were ruled out of Thursday’s first match and the rest of the series with injuries.

Suryakumar was the Player of the Series in India’s recent 3-0 rout of the West Indies, but his absence offers the opportunity for another player to fulfill that middle-order role, with Sanju Samson in contention to be that player.

"Surya’s injury obviously is a setback. He was in great form as you saw in the last series; he was the Man of the Series. But there are so many players who are waiting to get an opportunity. I’ll be more than happy for them to come in and fill in.

"Sanju has got talent. Whenever we have seen him bat, he has produced an innings where everyone goes over the moon watching that. He’s got the skillset to succeed.

"Now, that’s the whole point about this spot. A lot of people have the skillset, a lot of people have talent. I think it’s up to Sanju how he utilises his talent and how he can maximize it. When you go to Australia, you need those kinds of shot-making abilities and Samson definitely has it in him."

India moved to the top of the ICC T20I Team Rankings ahead of England thanks to their series win over West Indies, and will be favourites to strengthen that position with another series victory over a Sri Lanka side who lost 4-1 in Australia earlier this month.

And Sri Lanka’s hopes of surprising their opponents in Lucknow suffered a blow when it was revealed that the team’s key all-rounder and recent star of the IPL auction Wanindu Hasaranga will not be available for the first match and maybe the whole series.

Hasaranga caught Covid during the recent trip to Australia and the length of quarantine time means he will not be cleared to feature in Thursday’s series opener.

"It's not that he has got a new infection, it's just that he has not cleared the old infection according to their (Australia's) level,” Arjuna de Silva, the head of SLC's medical department, explained.

"Each country has a different cut-off for a positive result, Australia's is fairly high and so to reach that value takes some time.

"He'll miss the first match [against India] for sure. Our job is to get him to India. Of course, whether he plays or not is a different matter. That depends on his fitness and other factors.”

THE SQUADS

**India:**Rohit Sharma (capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah (vice-capt), Avesh Khan.

Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka (vc), Dinesh Chandimal, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kamil Mishara, Janith Liyanage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Ashian Daniel.

THE SERIES

1st T20I - 24 February, Lucknow, 19:00 local

2nd T20I - 26 February, Dharamsala, 19:00 local

3rd T20I - 27 February, Dharamsala, 19:00 local