IND vs SL 2nd T20: 3 Things that went wrong for Shikhar Dhawan’s India in 4-wicket loss against Sri Lanka – Dhananjaya de Silva’s unbeaten knock of 40 runs followed by Chamika Karunaratne’s cameo of 12 runs helped Sri Lanka defeat India by four wickets in the second T20I of the three-match series here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday. With this win, Sri Lanka has levelled the three-match series at 1-1. The final game will be played on Thursday. Team India was forced to make seven changes in the side due to the isolation of key players as Krunal Pandya was tested positive. India had to field just five batsmen in the match. To add to their trouble Dhawan and Ruturaj Gaikwad played sluggish innings at the start and Bhuvneshwar Kumar had an off day at the office.
We at Insidesport will take you through three things that went wrong for Shikhar Dhawan’s India in the 4-wicket loss against Sri Lanka.
Sluggish opening partnership
As India came on to bat with just five batsmen in playing XI, it was pretty obvious that the openers will be cautious about losing early wickets. But it turned out that Gaikwad and Dhawan were more than cautious in the first six overs and played sluggish innings at the top. Dhawan made 42-ball 40 while Gaikwad scored 18-ball 21.
Missing key players
India were missing a few of the key players on the side. Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya who plays the role of an all-rounder in the team were missed while Prithvi Shaw’s explosive start at the top was also missed. India missed the opening bowling of Deepak Chahar as well.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who bowled beautifully in the last game and picked four wickets while in the 2nd game Kumar failed to make an impact. India were hoping that he would perform in this game as well when the batters failed to put up a big score. He conceded a six in the second last over of the game which sealed the game for Sri Lanka.
