India Tour of Sri Lanka: Manish Pandey’s valiant 63-run knock went in vain as Suryakumar Yadav slammed a 50 to guide Bhuvneshwar Kumar XI to an easy victory over Shikhar Dhawan XI in the 1st intra-squad practice match in Colombo on Monday. India’s bowling coach on the tour, Paras Mhambrey narrated the match result in a video posted by BCCI on Monday night. The 20-over match helped India get some crucial practice ahead of the 1st ODI against Sri Lanka on July 13.
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Mhambrey revealed that Dhawan XI scored 155 runs batting first in the contest with Bhubaneswar Kumar bagging two wickets for just 23 runs in his four overs. It was only Manish Pandey, who could contribute largely to the score. But Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal set the stage with a 60-run opening partnership for an easy chase before Suryakumar Yadav’s half-century helped them achieve the target in 17 overs.
High Energy ⚡️
Full🔛 Intensity 💪A productive day in the field for #TeamIndia during their T20 intra squad game in Colombo 👌 👌#SLvIND pic.twitter.com/YLbUYyTAkf
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 5, 2021
India Tour of Sri Lanka: “The two nominated captains from today’s game were Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Shikhar won the toss and elected to bat first. His team managed to score 150-odd in the allotted 20 overs. There were useful contributions from Ruturaj, who scored 30-odd runs, and Manish Pandey, the highest scorer with 63. It was a very hot day, a hard day, and everyone appreciated Manish for his contribution,” Mhambrey said.
📸 Snapshots from India national team’s Intra-Squad practice match at SSC grounds.#SLvIND pic.twitter.com/2vNJvu4IwN
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) July 5, 2021
“Bhuvi’s (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) team could manage to chase that easily in the 17th over, with Suryakumar who got fifty-plus. There were a couple of useful contributions from Devdutt and Prithvi Shaw as well, putting up a 60-run opening partnership,” the bowling coach added.
India Tour of Sri Lanka: While an intra-squad match isn’t similar to a warm-up match against a local opponent, it will give coach Rahul Dravid and captain Shikhar Dhawan a fair idea about the Playing XI. But Manish Pandey’s 63 and Suryakumar Yadav’s 50 will complicate the selection process as both are vying for the No 4 spot. However, with the ICC T20 World Cup approaching, Manish Pandey could keep his hopes alive with some good knocks as Suryakumar Yadav is still new to the international setup.
India’s squad: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (Wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-captain), Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya
Net Bowlers: Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, Simarjeet Singh
| India’s tour of Sri Lanka, 2021 – ODI series | |||
| S.No. | Date | Match | Venue |
| 1 | 13th July | 1st ODI | Colombo |
| 2 | 16th July | 2nd ODI | Colombo |
| 3 | 18th July | 3rd ODI | Colombo |
| India’s tour of Sri Lanka, 2021 – T20I series | |||
| S.No. | Date | Match | Venue |
| 1 | 21st July | 1st T20I | Colombo |
| 2 | 23rd July | 2nd T20I | Colombo |
| 3 | 25th July | 3rd T20I | Colombo |
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