Navdeep Saini, who suffered a shoulder injury after an ugly fall trying to catch the ball in the second T20I against Sri Lanka on 28 July, will be taken for scans, BCCI said. The pacer did not bowl a single ball in the game and suffered the injury in the 19th over of the Sri Lankan innings.
Now the BCCI has given an update on the Delhi pacer's injury and mentioned that he will go for scans in order to find the extent of the damage.
“Navdeep Saini suffered a left shoulder injury while fielding during the second T20I vs Sri Lanka on 28th July. He might have to undergo scans to ascertain the extent of the injury. His progress is being monitored by the medical staff,” the BCCI said in a statement.
After the second T20I match, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, in a post-match conversation, had said: “In Navdeep’s case, I think the medical team is handling him. We will assess the situation, maybe tonight or in the morning, and take a decision accordingly. And I think, once the decision is finalized and conveyed to the selectors and the coach, I think we will go ahead and then if needed we need to make any changes, we will do that."
Unfortunately, Saini's injury was bad enough, and this paved way for Kerala pacer Sandeep Warrier to make his international debut for Team India in the 3rd T20I. It is to be seen if the injury is just a bruise or something serious that will require a longer recovery time.
With eight players coming in close contact of COVID-19 infected Krunal Pandya, India fielded a depleted team for the last two T20Is which resulted in its first series defeat across formats against Sri Lanka since 2008.
India got off to a shocker of a start in the third T20I which brought senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar to bat inside the powerplay. The team never managed to recover and were restricted to 81/8 in 20 overs. Sri Lanka chased the target without any hiccups to seal the series 2-1.
(Inputs: PTI)
