India’s middle-order batter Sanju Samson has been ruled out of the two remaining T20I series against Sri Lanka. Samson reportedly did not travel with the squad to Pune and remained in Mumbai for the scans.
The 28-year-old hurt his knee in the 13th over of the second innings while fielding in the opening game at the Wankhede Stadium, where India pulled off a last ball thriller.
“Samson hurt his left knee while attempting to field a ball near the boundary ropes during the first T20I,” the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) release stated.
“He was taken for scans and a specialist opinion this afternoon (on Wednesday) in Mumbai by the BCCI Medical Team and has been advised rest and rehabilitation.”
The BCCI have named uncapped wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma as his replacement.
Jitesh performed exceptionally well in his debut IPL season last year. Representing Punjab Kings (PBKS), he amassed 234 runs in the lower middle-order at a scintillating strike rate of 163.64. The Amravati-born has so far played 76 T20 games and his career strike rate is close to 150.
India squad for Sri Lanka T20Is:
Hardik Pandya (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Mukesh Kumar.
