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India batter Sanju Samson has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20I series against Sri Lanka owing to a knee injury, BCCI confirmed. Jitesh Sharma is set to replace the batter ahead of the upcoming fixture which is to be played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Friday, January 5.

In the midst of the first T20I, Samson took a blow to his knee while gathering the ball in the second innings. A BCCI source confirmed saying that the batter has in fact stayed back for scans to determine the extent of the injury. The Kerala-born batter did not have the best of starts to 2023 with his bat as he could only manage to get five runs from six deliveries before getting dismissed by Dhananjaya de Silva.

“Samson has stayed back in Mumbai to get some scans. Yes, Jitesh is joining the team. He has been rewarded for his performances for Punjab Kings in the IPL,” said a BCCI source.

The Men in Blue further added the services of Vidarbha wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma and will act as a cover for explosive batter Ishan Kishan for the final two fixtures. Furthermore, the injury to Samson could open the doors for Rahul Tripathi to make his appearance in the national side for the first time.

Team India aim to clinch series in second T20I

The Hardik Pandya-led side currently have the lead in the series 1-0 against the Islanders after their final ball thriller in the first of the three-match T20I series in Mumbai. The Men in Blue have the momentum and will be on the lookout to clinch the series in the forthcoming clash on Friday.

On the other hand, Dasun Shanaka and Co. will aim to register a win if they want to get back in the contest and level the series. India has never lost a home series to the Lankan Lions and will look to maintain the streak which could be decided in Pune in the forthcoming match.

India’s updated squad for T20Is: Hardik Pandya (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (VC), Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar.