Sri Lanka, Rahul Dravid, Dasun Shanaka
Rahul Dravid and Dasun Shanaka [Image-Twitter]

Sri Lanka Cricket applauded Rahul Dravid for completing India’s tour to the country despite the Covid-19 affecting the Indian contingent. Rahul Dravid led a second-string squad of India for a three-match ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka.

While the ODI series took place with no issues, the T20I series was affected badly as Indian player Krunal Pandya contacted the virus amid the tour.

Krunal Pandya was found Covid-19 positive after the completion of the 1st T20I. As a result, the 2nd T20I game was postponed by a day. While Pandya was quarantined after testing positive for Covid, 8 other Indian players were sent under strict isolation for being in close contact with Pandya.

As a result, only 11 players of the 20-man Indian squad were available for the last two T20I games. In spite of such a tough situation, Rahul Dravid went ahead with playing with the remaining players in the rest two matches.

Rahul Dravid and Shkhar Dhawan
Rahul Dravid and Shikhar Dhawan (Image Credit: Twitter)

If Rahul Dravid Wanted, He Could Have Easily Taken The Team Back To India: SLC Board

In a conversation with Cricbuzz, the secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket Mohan de Silva praised Indian coach Rahul Dravid for the efforts he took to complete the series.

“If he wanted, he could have easily taken the team back to India. The most encouraging aspect of the whole Pandya episode was the role of the support staff of the Indian team, led by Rahul. If he wanted, he could have easily taken the team back to India. He was very accommodating and understood the situation. He appreciated the efforts we were taking and realised that we were doing our best to protect the boys from virus dangers with all bio-secure guidelines,” de Silva said.  

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and Secretary Jay Shah
BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and Secretary Jay Shah (Image Credit: Twitter)

The Sri Lanka Cricket secretary also thanked BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah for adding three T20I games during India’s tour. The tour earlier consisted of only three ODIs but BCCI added a three-match T20I series on Sri Lanka Cricket’s request. De Silva informed that the tour turned out to be very valuable for them financially.

“It was a very, very valuable tour for us. We were looking forward to it for a long time. We were very grateful to BCCI top brass – Jay Shah and Sourav Ganguly – for acceding to our request to play three additional T20Is. Originally the tour was for only three ODIs. It enhanced the commercial value of the whole tour. We ended up earning almost $ 14.5 million. It is a huge boost to our finances,” de Silva said.

Sri Lanka Team
Sri Lanka Team (Image Credit: Getty)

The three-match ODI series was won by India, as the Shikhar Dhawan-led side won the 1st and 2nd ODI. However, Sri Lanka outplayed India in the T20I series. After losing the first game, Sri Lanka won the 2nd and 3rd T20I, clinching the series in their favor.

Read More  RCB vs KKR Match Prediction- Who Will Win Today’s IPL Match? IPL 2024, Match 10

Vikas Singh Derek has been working for Cricketaddictor since February 2021. He has written over 12,000 articles for Cricketaddictor. He is a sports writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience...