Is Shubman Gill’s absence in the 2nd T20I against Sri Lanka a major worry for India? Find out the reasons behind it.

Star batsman Shubman Gill of the Indian cricket team was unable to play in the second T20I match against Sri Lanka due to a neck spasm on Sunday. Sanju Samson replaced Gill in the starting lineup, and Suryakumar Yadav, the captain, explained why Gill was not playing. “Gill is not playing as he woke up with a neck spasm, Samson is coming in,” stated Suryakumar Yadav. Unfortunately, Samson was unable to make an impact as he was dismissed for zero runs by spinner Maheesh Theekshana.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and captain Suryakumar Yadav showcased their wide range of shots as India secured a 2-0 lead, winning the rain-shortened second T20I by seven wickets with nine balls remaining.

Head coach Gautam Gambhir and the new captain Suryakumar Yadav could not have hoped for a better start to their new roles, as the Indian team played like true champions, outperforming Sri Lanka in all aspects.

Despite Shubman Gill’s absence due to a neck spasm and another disappointing performance by Sanju Samson (0), Jaiswal (30 off 15 balls) and Suryakumar (26 off 12 balls) made the chase of 78 runs in 8 overs look easy after the bowlers restricted Sri Lanka to 161 for 9.

When Maheesh Theekshana seemed threatening with his variations, the Mumbai pair decided to use the sweep shot, both conventional and reverse, to counter him.

The plan was to negate the turn from Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga and maintain control. They managed to score 39 runs in 3.1 overs before both Jaiswal and Suryakumar were dismissed, hitting a total of seven fours and three sixes.

Hardik Pandya (22 not out off 9 balls) and Rishabh Pant (2 not out) finished the match in 6.3 overs, making the final game of the series on Tuesday inconsequential.

In the earlier stages, Suryakumar won the toss and his bowlers performed well, with the home team losing seven wickets for 31 runs in the last 30 balls after a strong start at 130 for 2 in 15 overs.

Despite scoring 80 runs in the first 10 overs and being in a position to accelerate, Charith Asalanka’s team faltered, managing only 81 runs in the final 10 overs due to the clever variations from Pandya (2/23 in 2 overs) and the fast googlies from Ravi Bishnoi (3/26 in 4 overs).

Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh also contributed with two wickets each.

(With PTI inputs)