Sri Lankan bowlers have defended captain Dasun Shanaka’s decision of electing to bowl first in the first of three T20Is against India at the Wankhede Stadium tonight. India losing three wickets for less than 50 runs right after the powerplay on a batting-friendly surface is a testament to the same.
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The Indian innings went nowhere in spite of wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan pushing the team to a blistering start on the back of scoring 17 runs in the first over. Neither Kishan nor the rest of the Indian batters were able to play big shots on a consistent basis to make optimum use of the powerplay.
Debutant Shubman Gill (7) was the first Indian batter to get out after he completely failed to make contact with the ball in his attempt to pull a Maheesh Theekshana delivery. Gill, who also wasted a review, was followed back to the dressing room by Suryakumar Yadav (7) as the in-form batter mis-timed a ramp off Chamika Karunaratne to Bhanuka Rajapaksa at short fine leg.
Batter Sanju Samson, too, couldn’t make proper use of a batting opportunity at No. 4 as his aim to hit an aerial shot off all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva remained unfulfilled after a mis-hit was caught by Dilshan Madushanka at short third man.
IND vs SL commentators 2023
With international cricket featuring the Indian cricket team returning to tried and tested Star Sports Network, they have left no stone unturned to put together a star-studded 12-member commentary panel for this match.
Known to provide enriching experience to their viewers via high-profile players-turned-commentators, Star have roped in nine former international cricketers to call matches during this bilateral T20I series. The commentators are:
English – Sunil Gavaskar, Harsha Bhogle, Murali Kartik, Deep Dasgupta, Ajit Agarkar and Kumar Sangakkara.
Hindi – Jatin Sapru, Padamjeet Sehrawat, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Gautam Gambhir and Sanjay Bangar.
