'We are street fighters,' says Shikhar Dhawan as India play 4 debutants in 2nd T20I

Shikhar Dhawan praised Team India, saying his boys are "street fighters and ready to face challenges" as the Men in Blue hand debut to four players in the second Twenty20 International (T20I) against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Rana and Chetan Sakariya were handed their T20I caps in Colombo after as many as eight players were ruled out of the game as they had been in close contact of Krunal Pandya, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.

The eight players who were in close contact of Krunal were Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Manish Pandey, Ishan Kishan, and K Gowtham.

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and put India to bat in the second T20I.

"We would have batted first, so I'm happy with it. There are four debutants. Lots of changes due to obvious reasons. We're all looking forward to this. We're street-fighters and ready to face the challenges. Our main players aren't here, but that gives the chance to the younger players. They have created great energy for the last 45 days, and I'm glad they have got their chances. These things can happen in the current scenario, that's why we brought a large squad," said Dhawan at the toss on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, India head coach Rahul Dravid has confirmed that those eight players won't be playing in the remainder of the series.

"Unfortunately the close contacts of Krunal won't be playing a part in the series. We have 11 players available and we will play them. There is nothing to feel sorry about. All the 11 are good enough to make the 11 and that's why they were picked in the squad. I feel it is exciting to see them perform. Yes, the balance of the side will be a little fragile because we can only pick from the players available," Dravid was quoted as saying ahead of the 2nd T20I.

5 net bowlers added to the squad

An official release from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday stated that the five net bowlers – Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, R Sai Kishore and Simarjeet Singh – were added to the squad for the remaining T20Is.

"After Krunal Pandya was tested positive for COVID-19 on July 27, all members of the team and support staff were immediately isolated and tested as a safety measure. The test results for everyone including the eight identified close contacts of Krunal returned negative. Following the test on July 27, a Rapid Antigen test was also conducted today (July 28) at noon and they have all returned negative results. However, to ensure health and safety of the squad, the 8 close contacts will continue to remain in isolation in the team hotel," the BCCI's release read further.

India are 1-0 up in the ongoing three-match T20I series following their 38-run win in the opening game last week.