India’s stand-in captain Shikhar Dhawan will have a chance to pip full-time skipper Virat Kohli in the second T20I against Sri Lanka at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Tuesday.
Dhawan has scored 335 runs in 10 T20Is against Sri Lanka and he can overtake Virat Kohli’s tally of 339 runs, which he had scored in seven T20I against the Island nation.
Thus, Dhawan will become India’s highest run-getter against Sri Lanka if he goes on to more than four runs in the second match. Dhawan has been in great form in the shortest format of the game and he is making a case for himself in the T20 World Cup squad. It is expected that Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul currently lead the race for the opening slot of the T20I showpiece.
On the other hand, Yuzvendra Chahal has scalped 15 wickets against Sri Lanka in seven innings. Chahal is currently tied with England’s fast bowler Chris Jordan at the top spot for most wickets against Sri Lanka in T20Is. Ergo, one more wicket will take Chahal at the top of the leading wicket-takers against Sri Lanka in the shortest format of the game.
Furthermore, India’s pack leader Bhuvneshwar Kumar needs one more wicket to complete 50 T20I scalps in his International career. Kumar had bowled at the top of his game and had snared four wickets in the first T20I against the hosts on Sunday.
Deepak Chahar is five wickets away from completing 25 T20I wickets whereas Krunal Pandya needs three more wickets to surpass Zaheer Khan’s tally of 17 T20I wickets.
The second T20I will be played at the same venue on Tuesday as India will look to take an impregnable lead whereas Sri Lanka will aim to stay afloat in the series.
