The Indians fielded 5 debutants in the third ODI against the Lankans. Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana, Rahul Chahar, Chetan Sakariya and Krishnappa Gowtham all made their debuts in the same match. The last time India fielded five debutants in a match was 41 years ago against Australia. In cricket news, the young Indian team has performed very well in the series especially Suryakumar Yadav who won player of the series for his batting performance.
Ishan Kishan smashed a fifty in his debut, showing how fearless these youngsters are since they have already faced international bowlers during their IPL stints. The IPL has transformed many players who have got accustomed to international exposure at an early age. They get to play the shorter format with senior players. Shikhar Dhawan has captained the side quite well as they won the series 2-1. He is the only experienced player in the team but has led from the front.
Also read: 2nd T20 Int'l: Time for Samson to fire as India aim to wrap up series
The T20 series also began on a bright note as the Indian team won the first match with an impressive bowling performance led by Bhuvnesh Kumar. His spell included 22 runs for 4 wickets as he shook the Lankan team. Varun Chakravarthy took a wicket in his debut match. Surykumar Yadav continued his top form as he top scored with a half century which propelled the score to 164. Reports suggest that Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav would be leaving soon as they have been needed in England for the Test matches, their presence for the remainder of the series is yet to be announced.
According to media reports, former Indian player Wasim Jaffer said "The way the Indian team has come up the ranks in white-ball cricket in the past few years, a lot of credit goes to Shikhar Dhawan as well, even though sometimes his contributions remain in the shadow of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma who are obviously outstanding players. But I think we shouldn't underestimate Shikhar Dhawan and I see him, at least for a year or two, a contender to play in this T20 World Cup and also the 2023 50-over World Cup”.
Hardik Pandya has not been in his best form for some time now as he could not prove himself in the bowling and batting department. He can do a whole lot of damage especially in the shorter form, his late cameos will help India. Ishan Kishan will look to continue his fearless batting show. The bowling department is led by Bhuvnesh Kumar as he ripped apart the batting line up in the previous match he was joined by Yuzvendra Chahal as he conceded only 19 runs in the first match. Varun Chakravarthy can also do some damage as he picked up a wicket in his debut match.
