Led by skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s half-century (58 off 26 balls), India’s top-order fired all cylinders to take the team to a commanding 213 for 7 after the Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka won the toss and put the visitors in to bat. Jaiswal (40 off 21 balls) and Shubman Gill (34 off 16 balls) gave India a dominating start of 74 runs before both fell on consecutive deliveries. Surya and Rishabh Pant (49 off 33 balls) then entertained the crowd with a stroke-filled 76-run partnership, which was enough to push India past the 200-run mark despite the middle-order faltering.
Talking to Jaiswal after the match, former India pacer Ashish Nehra stumped the young batsman with his comment and he could only smile about that with a you-caught-me expression.
“Ajay Jadeja asked you what’s the difference when Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were there (to open in T20Is). According to me, there is just one difference. If Virat and Rohit were still playing this format, then whatever strokes we saw from you today, you would have played those in the nets. Now you are getting to play those shots in the match because they (Virat and Rohit) are not there,” quipped Nehra.
Both Virat and Rohit had announced their T20I retirement after India won the T20 World Cup last month.
Nehra’s cheeky comment left everyone in splits and the video clip of the small interaction was shared by Sony Sports Network on X (formerly Twitter).
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Coming back to the match, Sri Lanka started their stiff run-chase on a positive note, as their openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis added 84 runs in 8.3 overs. Arshdeep Singh (2 for 24) broke that stand by dismissing Mendis (45 off 27 balls). But Nissanka’s bat continued to blaze away in another quickfire stand of 56 with Kusal Perera.
But once Axar Patel (2 for 38) cleaned up Nissanka (79 off 48 balls) with his left-arm spin, the Lankans succumbed to the scoreboard pressure and the climbing required run-rate.
Riyan Parag (3 for 5) made the most of that pressure and struck thrice in the 8 balls he bowled in the match, which took the fight out of the home team.
