Hemang Badani rues absence of MS Dhoni as India lose post a relatively easy run-out opportunity missed by Rishabh Pant versus Sri Lanka.
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During the ninth match of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 between India and Sri Lanka at the Dubai International stadium, the Rohit Sharma-led side yet again fell agonizingly short of defending the target, to ultimately lose the humdinger of a match by 6 wickets.
En route the target of 174, on what appeared to be a challenging pitch to bat on post India’s innings, the opening batting pair of Kusal Mendis (57 off 36) and Pathum Nissanka (52 off 37), literally punctured the Indian spirits, as they stitched together a 97-run stand off mere 67 deliveries.
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However, India’s premier leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (4-0-34-3) struck thrice within his final two Overs, including those of both the openers, to make a staggering comeback in this do-or-die encounter.
Despite it all, this resurgent Sri Lankan side, held on to their nerve, and an unbeaten half-century stand for the fifth wicket between skipper Dasun Shanaka (33* off 18) and Southpaw batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa (25* off 17) saw their team home, and make it through to the grand finale.
Hemang Badani rues absence of MS Dhoni
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4-0-30-0) yet again bowled a costly penultimate Over (14 runs), with Sri Lanka requiring 21 off the final two Overs.
However, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh (3.4-0-40-0), yet again bowled a stellar final Over, and took the match to the penultimate delivery while needing to defend mere 7 runs for the second consecutive match in a row.
However, with very little luck, and the equation reading 2 runs required off 2 deliveries, both the Sri Lankan batters attempted to sneak in a Bye, after Shanaka failed to get his bat on the ball off the short length delivery bowled by Arshdeep.
Unfortunately, despite ample time and three stumps to aim at, wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant failed to hit the target, and with Arshdeep also failing to aim at the Stumps at his end, Sri Lanka completed the two remaining runs, with a ball to spare.
Former India batter Hemang Badani took to his Twitter handle, to state that he missed former India skipper and wicket-keeper batter MS Dhoni at the aforementioned crucial juncture of the match, and that no way he (Dhoni) would have missed the run-out opportunity with all the three stumps to aim at.
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