Gautam Gambhir has led Team India to a T20I series win over Sri Lanka in his first assignment as head coach of the India cricket team.
Team India may have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka but new head coach Gautam Gambhir is a hard man to please. Former India opener Gambhir wasn’t pleased by new skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s decision on a DRS call in the second T20I match against Sri Lanka at the Pallekele International Stadium in Kandy on Sunday (July 28).
In the 7th over of the rain-hit second T20I match, left-arm spinner Axar Patel and Team India went up for an appeal against Pathum Nissanka as the Sri Lanka opener missed an intended sweep shot after putting on 54 runs in the first six overs the match against India for the loss of just one wicket. However, the replays showed that the ball would have missed the leg-stump and the third umpire asked the on-field umpires to stick to the original decision. Head coach Gambhir wasn’t impressed and gave a grim reaction which was captured by the cameras and went viral on social media.
— hiri_azam (@HiriAzam) July 28, 2024
A half-century by Kusal Perera, who scored 53 off 34 balls and Nissanka’s 32 off 24 balls helped the Lankans post 161 for 9 after batting first. India’s leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who went on to win the ‘Player of the Match’ award in the game claimed 3/26 including wickets of former Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka and Wanindu Hasaranga for ducks.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya, pacer Arshdeep Singh and left-arm spinner Axar Patel claimed two wickets each. Team India notched up 81 for 3 in 6.3 overs in a rain-hit contest with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring 30 off 15 balls, skipper Suryakumar Yadav notching up 26 off 12 balls and Pandya smashing 22 off 9 balls.
Once play resumed, India were set with a revised target of 78 runs from 8 overs. Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka opened the bowling in the shortened game, conceding 10 runs in his first over. Maheesh Theekshana provided an early breakthrough by dismissing Sanju Samson, who came in for an injured Shubman Gill, for a golden duck.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 161/9 in 20 overs (Kusal Perera 53, Pathum Nissanka 32; Ravi Bishnoi 3/26, Hardik Pandya 2/23, Arshdeep Singh 2/24, Axar Patel 2/30) lost to India 81/3 in 6.3 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 30, Suryakumar Yadav 26, Hardik Pandya 22 not out; Maheesh Theekshana 1/16) by 7 wickets (DLS method)
