It might seem like India have come up with an inexperienced team with six uncapped players in it but vice-captain for the tour, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar doesn’t believe it. Bhuvi has mentioned that all six newbies might be new to the international team, but they have the requisite confidence thanks to their part in IPL. With skipper Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma handling duties at England with their upcoming test series, the Indian team for the series against Sri Lanka will be led by Shikhar Dhawan. Many of whom impressed the board by stellar performances in last year’s IPL and have been rewarded with their maiden India call up. These players include Nitish Rana, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ruturaj Gaikwad, pacer Chetan Sakaria, Devdutt Padikkal, and Varun Chakravarthy.

Three Points to Note Ahead of India’s Tour of Sri Lanka

• Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is India’s vice-captain for the Sri Lanka tour Vice-Captain
• Bhuvneshwar Kumar said new blood will carry IPL confidence into series
• The tour of 3 T20Is, 3 ODIs has been rescheduled for July 18 due to Covid cases

On a Star Sports show ‘Follow the Blues’ Bhuvaneshwar said the team has good players who gained experience at IPL and are the young blood. Playing in the T20 format for many years, they have been successful and have gained their teams’ trust. He also added that the national team will carry the confidence of IPL to the upcoming series. With the mix of experienced players, the team has a good team balance making it suitable for the upcoming tour. Young players who would be touring for the first time and joined after performing well in the IPL would benefit greatly if they do well at Sri Lanka as it would boost their confidence.

Bhuvaneshwar’s Comeback Mentality

During last year’s IPL the senior pacer suffered a thigh injury which resulted in him not being able to play for the league as well as the Australia tour. After a long injury lay off in the home series against England in March he returned to the national squad. Bhuvi mentions that playing cricket at the domestic level kept him motivated.

Adding about his recovery phase, he said that he mainly focused on getting fit quickly and returning to the team. He played domestic cricket before the England series, and it helped him return to his form. He further added about the value of playing domestic cricket, and it should not be taken lightly. The India Sri Lanka series slated to begin with three ODIs has been rescheduled from July 13 to July 18. This happened after Sri Lanka’s data analyst GT Niroshan and batting coach Grant Flower tested positive for Covid 19. From July 18 the series comprising three ODIs and three T20s will begin.

India’s Women’s Team Beat England to Level the t20 Series 1-1

Meanwhile, in women’s cricket, the India Women’s team beat England by 8 runs levelling the series 1-1 in thrilling fashion. Spinners Sneh Rana and Poonam Yadav made a late comeback and helped the team defeat England in the second t20I match on County Ground Hove on Sunday. With the last win, India has kept it competitive in this series. If England wins the next match, then the score line is levelled. England leads this series 8-6 with the decider being played on Wednesday. When chasing 149 runs England got off to a rocky start with opener Danni Wyatt perishing in the second over being bowled by Arundhati Reddy. Right after that Natalie Sciver was run out during the third over. With this, England was down to 31/2.

Tammy Beaumont continued to bat and make runs making the score read 52/2 by the end. Beaumont and skipper Heather Knight kept adding runs with hosts needing 69 runs off the final ten overs for the win. The partnership of Knight and Beaumont gathered 75 runs for the wicket, and it ended on the 14th over when Beaumont (59) was sent packing by Deepti Sharma. Knight (30) was dismissed soon after and England was reduced to 106/4 still needing 43 runs. With a steady onslaught from the Indian bowlers, England needed 24 runs off the final three overs. In the final over Poonam and Sneh held a bowling masterclass, registering India for an 8 run win.

A Stellar Partnership from Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma

Earlier, India went off on a blister as Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana scored 49 runs in the first six overs. Shafali Verma and Harmanpreet Kaur scored 48 and 31 respectively helping India post a competitive 148/4 in the twenty allocated overs. Mandhana was sent back by Freya Davis in the 9th over. The next saw Shafali (48) going for a big shot but only managed to edge the ball and hand a catch to Nat Sciver reducing India to 72/2 in the 10th over. Harmanpreet carried the middle order despite her out of form stature in the last few series with vintage knocks scoring 31. She lost her wickets in the 16th over from a ball by Sarag Glenn taking India to 112/3. Finally, the England bowlers maintained a stranglehold over the Indian batters and the score line stayed below 150. Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana were unbeaten by the end of the match at 24 and 8 runs respectively.