Gaikwad ruled out of Sri Lanka T20Is; Mayank replaces him

Pain in the right wrist has ruled the opening batter, Ruturaj Gaikwad out of the T20I series against Sri Lanka. Mayank Agarwal has been announced as the replacement player and has joined the squad on short notice in Dharamsala. After the opening match of the three-match series on Thursday, India are scheduled to play back-to-back games on the weekend. 

With Ranji Trophy going on, limited players were available to join the national squad. Moreover, Mayank is not far away from Dharamsala. As part of the Test squad, he was quarantining with the Test players in Chandigarh.

"It was not difficult to send Agarwal in because it could easily be a bubble-to-bubble transfer. He was in Chandigarh and he was immediately rushed," a source told Cricbuzz.

Prior to the first T20I in Lucknow, the Indian team management had confirmed Gaikwad's struggle with his wrist. "Ruturaj Gaikwad complained of pain in his right wrist, which is affecting his batting. He was unavailable for selection for the first T20I. The BCCI Medical Team is examining him," a spokesman for the Indian team had said.

Not that there is a good time for any injury but this blow may have cost Gaikwad at least one T20I to prove his worth at the highest level. He has consistently been a part of India's white-ball setup since last year's T20 World Cup. Yet, the 25-year old has played only one game - the third T20I against West Indies. The opportunity came after India had sealed the series. If the same pattern was followed and given India's 1-0 lead in the ongoing series, there could be another opportunity in store for Gaikwad on Sunday. It could have helped him to strengthen his case for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Unfortunately, the wait now grows longer for the right-hander. 

Ruturaj’s omission adds to the already long injury list, with Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Chahar ruled out prior to the series. There were no replacements named after Suryakumar and Chahar were ruled out. However, with back-to-back T20s in store and no backup batter in store, it was only sensible that the team management didn't take a chance. 

India's T20I squad (updated): Rohit Sharma (c), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Avesh Khan, Mayank Agarwal