Colombo: India’s stand-in-skipper skipper Shikhar Dhawan is likely to miss the remainder of the T20I series against Sri Lanka, after coming in close contact with Krunal Pandya, who has tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday.
India’s second T20I against Sri Lanka on Tuesday was postponed after allrounder Krunal contracted the virus putting him in isolation immediately. According to Sports Tak, eight Indian players of which Dhawan is a part won’t be available for the remainder of the T20I series.
Although these eight players have tested negative for the virus but they might still not be allowed to visit the ground for the fixtures. This includes captain Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar being the vice captain is expected to take over the captaincy in the absence of Dhawan. With the absence of crucial 8 players, India might face a huge challenge in the rest of the T20I series.
Meanwhile, BCCI has already said that the eight players have tested negative for COVID-19 but they won’t take part in the remaining matches of the series due to precautionary measures set in place. The players are expected to be tested once again today.
“Krunal is symptomatic with cough and throat pain. He is obviously out of the series and will not be able able to return with rest of the squad,” a BCCI source told PTI. “However the good news is that all his eight close contacts who were identified by the BCCI medical officer (Dr Abhijit Salvi) have tested negative. But as a precautionary measure can’t take the field,” the source added.
