Why is Deepti Sharma not playing in 2nd T20I against Sri Lanka in Visakhapatnam?

Visakhapatnam:

Star India all-rounder Deepti Sharma wasn’t available for the second T20I against Sri Lanka at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur explained that the 28-year-old wasn’t well and fit for the match and for the same reason, the team was forced to change their playing XI. Sneh Rana replaced her in middle. Meanwhile, India once again won the toss and elected to bowl first.

“We are going to bowl first. Deepti isn’t well today, so Sneh Rana comes back into the side. It was a really good wicket to play on. Nothing much changed midway through the game; we just stuck to our plans and our approach. Hopefully, we can continue the same approach,” Harmanpreet said after the toss.

Sri Lanka aim to bounce back

Sri Lanka suffered an eight-wicket defeat in the first T20I of the five-match series. They now aim to script a comeback as captain Chamari Athapaththu as she expect the team to play some positive brand of cricket in the middle overs.

“We are going with the same XI. I am still confident in my team, we’ve backed a few youngsters and want to give them more opportunities. The key for us is to play positive cricket in the middle overs. In the last game we played a few shots behind square. Today, we want to play straighter - focus more on long-on and long-off, play to our strengths and build partnerships. Hopefully, our batters step up today.

Sri Lanka Women (Playing XI): Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu (c), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Nilakshi de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Kaushani Nuthyangana (wk), Malki Madara, Inoka Ranaweera, Kawya Kavindi, Shashini Gimhani

India Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Arundhati Reddy, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani