Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Chahar ruled out of SL series

After completing a whitewash against West India in a recently concluded T20I series at home, team India will miss two of its star performers in their upcoming home series against Sri Lanka. Deepak Chahar pulled off his hamstring in the 3rd T20I on Sunday and it remains to be seen what the extent of his injury is. Chahar has headed to National Cricket Academy in Bangalore where his injury will be monitored.

Despite travelling with the team to Lucknow, the venue for India’s first T20I, Suryakumar Yadav will not feature in the series against the Islanders owing to a hairline fracture on his hand. It is still unknown how and when the 31-year-old batsman suffered an injury to his hand, but apparently, he could have played through the injury in the last T20I against West Indies on Sunday.

Suryakumar Yadav played a brilliant knock under pressure for the men in blue in the final T20I against West Indies, anchoring his side with a brilliant 65 off just 31 balls. The Mumbai batsman was rightly adjudged player of the series after scoring 107 runs from 3 matches against Kieron Pollard’s men. His absence from the side will certainly deplete India’s middle-order in the upcoming three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka.

The Men in Blue are scheduled to play a three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka that begins tomorrow, February 24 at Lucknow. The last two T20Is will be played at the picturesque HPCA stadium in Dharamshala. Team India will also play two Tests in March against the Island nation after the completion of T20I leg of the series.

Shreyas Iyer should most likely occupy the crucial middle-order spot in the absence of Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah is expected to replace Deepak Chahar in the line-up against Sri Lanka. With the T20 World Cup scheduled later this year Down Under, team India should aim to test their bench and explore different permutations and combinations in the upcoming series against Sri Lanka.