IND vs SL 2021: Ranking India's debutants based on their performance in the 2nd T20I

A spirited India fought hard in the absence of several first-choice stars, but they fell to a four-wicket defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the second T20I at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Wednesday, July 28.

India made eight changes to the team that won the opening T20I by 38 runs and handed out four debuts. While the debutants weren't exactly put in a position to succeed, with the playing XI having only five specialist batsmen and the pitch being a difficult one to bat on, they showed enough promise.

Here, we rank India's debutants based on their performance in the second T20I.

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#4 Chetan Sakariya - 3.4-0-34-1 for India in the 2nd T20I

Sakariya strikes on his T20I debut 👏Important wicket for #TeamIndia 🤩🇱🇰 - 105/6 (17.2)Need 28 runs from 16 balls#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #SLvIND

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) July 28, 2021

Chetan Sakariya had a difficult outing in Colombo. Bowling two overs in the powerplay, the left-armer leaked a few boundaries as the Sri Lankan batsmen looked to capitalize with Bhuvneshwar Kumar operating at the other end.

Sakariya wasn't needed until the end of the Sri Lankan innings, where he was tasked with sending down two overs. While he picked up the wicket of Ramesh Mendis in a decent third over, he was given only eight runs to defend in the final six balls.

The debutant ended up as India's most expensive bowler on the night, and although he showed promise with a deceptive slower ball and some swing early on, he would've wanted more from himself.

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#3 Nitish Rana - 9(12) for India in the 2nd T20I

Nitish Rana getting his Indian T20I Debut Cap from Kuldeep Yadav 💜 #SLvIND #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/v1y6RCOZ0g

— Cricket Page (@CricketPage3) July 28, 2021

Nitish Rana's ODI debut saw him bat at No. 7, where he couldn't make an impact before being dismissed by Akila Dananjaya. On his T20I debut, the southpaw moved up two places to No. 5, but his fortunes didn't rise with his batting position.

Rana scored only nine runs after coming into bat in the 16th over, struggling to find the boundary and failing to counter Wanindu Hasaranga. He walked back in the final over after being completely deceived by Dushmantha Chameera.

The conditions weren't in favor of Rana, who came to the crease late in the piece, but he too should've done better.

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#2 Ruturaj Gaikwad - 21(18) for India in the 2nd T20I

BREAKING : Ruturaj Gaikwad makes his Debut for Team India 🦁🔥#WhistlePodu | @ChennaiIPL | #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/lvZWuMUCZ0

— CSK Fans Army™ (@CSKFansArmy) July 28, 2021

Opening the batting alongside Shikhar Dhawan, presumably to preserve the right-left combination, Ruturaj Gaikwad started slowly in the powerplay. With India not having much batting security lower down the order, the openers weren't too keen on going hell for leather in the opening six overs.

Gaikwad did his job to a decent extent as he ensured India came out of the powerplay unscathed, but he couldn't carry on and accelerate in the middle overs like he did for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.

After a couple of slower balls softened up Gaikwad, a bouncer served as the killer blow. The right-hander walked back for 21, just when it seemed like he'd make a splash on debut.

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#1 Devdutt Padikkal - 29(23) for India in the 2nd T20I

Shikhar Dhawan handed Devdutt Padikkal his maiden India cap

Coming in at No. 3, Devdutt Padikkal received an absolute jaffer as his first ball in international cricket. Putting the delivery in the back of his mind, the youngster rotated strike well at the start of his innings.

Eventually, Padikkal decided to up the ante. He slog-swept a huge six off Dhananjaya de Silva and later essayed a beautiful switch-hit off Wanindu Hasaranga to move to 29. However, one ball after playing the switch-hit, the southpaw missed a regulation leg-break on the sweep to be cleaned up by Hasaranga.

It was a promising India debut from Padikkal, who looked assured and confident at the crease. He will hope to end the series on a high on Thursday, July 29.