India tour of Sri Lanka: Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav score fifties as Bhuvneshwar XI beat Dhawan XI

Manish Pandey scored a half-century for Shikhar Dhawan XI while flamboyant Suryakumar Yadav smashed a quick-fire 50 odd for Bhuvneshwar Kumar XI in an intra-squad T20 simulation game at the SSC ground on Monday. India will take on Sri Lanka in 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is from July 13

Bowling coach Paras Mhambrey told bcci.tv that the coaching staff was pleased with the “intensity” and the players ticked all the right boxes in humid conditions.

Batting first, Dhawan XI put up 154 for four in 20 overs with Pandey scoring 63 off 45 balls. Ruturaj Gaikwad contributed 30-odd, opening the innings.

Opposition skipper Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the best bowler with figures of 2/23 in 4 overs.

In reply, Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal added 60 runs in quick time to set up the chase and Surya’s 50-odd helped them achieve the target within 17 overs.

Mhambrey said since the target was easily achieved by the side batting second, “we decided we will revise the target and gave them a situation where they had to score 40 odd runs in four overs to win the match. We wanted to push them and get the best out of situation.”

Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, India are set to play with 2 squads — Dhawan’s limited-overs squad and Kohli’s Test side — at the same time. India will play 3 ODIs and as many T20Is from July 13 to 25 while the Test specialists will take on England in a 5-Test series from August 4.