India comfortably defeated hosts Sri Lanka in the first T20I international at Pallekele on Saturday after their batsmen put the home team under pressure for a total of over 200, but Ashish Nehra’s witty comments after the match left opener Yashasvi Jaiswal speechless.
Led by India captain Suryakumar Yadav’s half-century (58 off 26 balls), the Indian top-order batted in full force to guide the team to a commanding score of 213 for 7. Sri Lankan captain Charith Asaranka won the toss and handed the visitors the batting.
Jaiswal (40 off 21 balls) and Shubman Gill (34 off 16 balls) gave India a commanding start with 74 runs before both were run out consecutively. Suriya and Rishabh Pant (49 off 33 balls) then entertained the crowd with a stroke-packed partnership of 76 runs, which was enough to take India past the 200-run mark despite a stumble in the middle order.
After the match, former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra left Jaiswal confused with some comments, which left Jaiswal able to laugh and say, “Well done for catching that”.
“Ajay Jadeja asked you what is different from when Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were there (T20I openers). For me, there is only one difference. If Virat and Rohit were still playing in this format, then whatever strokes you showed us today, you would have hit them in the nets. Now, it is only because they (Virat and Rohit) are not there that you can hit those shots in the match,” Nehra said jokingly.
Both Virat and Rohit had announced their retirement from T20Is after India won the T20 World Cup last month.
Nera’s cheeky comment had everyone in stitches and a video clip of the brief exchange was shared on Sony Sports Network X (formerly Twitter).
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Returning to the match, Sri Lanka began their tough run-chase in good form with openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis adding 84 runs in 8.3 overs. Arshdeep Singh (2 for 24) broke the stand when he dismissed Mendis (45 off 27 balls). However, Nissanka’s bat continued to gain momentum with another quick stand with Kusal Perera for 56 runs.
But after Akshar Patel (2 for 38) swept aside Nissanka (79 off 48 balls) with his left-arm spin, Sri Lanka succumbed to the pressure on the scoreboard and achieved the required scoring rate to make up the score.
Riyan Parag (3 for 5) made the most of the pressure, hitting just 3 off the 8 balls he faced in the match to dampen the spirit of the home side.