India and Sri Lanka will lock horns in the third T20I of a three-match series at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Saturday. The series is poised at 1-1 as the hosts won the opener by 2 runs, while Sri Lanka bounced back in the series with a 16-run win in the second T20I.
Notably, Hardik Pandya-led India arrived in Rajkot on Friday and they got a ‘warm and traditional welcome’ at their hotel.
In a video that was shared by the BCCI on their Twitter handle, the hotel management can be seen putting up a colorful cultural program that included dancing to folk music. Many players including Hardik and Surya Kumar Yadav were seen acknowledging the dancers. The Men in Blue were then welcome by the hotel staff with garlands.
Watch it here:
A warm and traditional welcome in Rajkot as #TeamIndia arrive for the third and final T20I, which will take place tomorrow! 💪🏾 #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/6Z7IOGO0BS
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 6, 2023
Talking about the series decider, the young pace bowling unit will look to pick up pieces from the hammering of the last game even as the Indian top-order itches to put in a meaningful performance against Sri Lanka.
After eking out a narrow last-ball win in the opener, India fell short by 16 runs as Sri Lanka levelled the three-match series 1-1.
The inconsistency of a young attack was one of the reasons for the defeat but going forward Umran Malik and Shivam Mavi will know that it was a great learning experience for them.
They erred in their lines and didn’t always bowl the fuller length, making the Sri Lankan batters’ job easy to guide the pace of the short-pitched stuff.
The Indian bowling unit bled runs with left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, who returned to the playing XI after a spell of injuries, bowling as many as five no-balls in his two overs.
He stepped over the line three times on the trot in his first over, making him the first India bowler to bowl a hat-trick of no-balls in the T20I.
Mavi, who made a sensational T20I debut in the opening game and Arshdeep Singh added to the no-ball count as they too missed the trick with skipper Hardik Pandya, who had to rely on his spinners, lamenting that the team needs to get its basics right.
On the batting front, the top order, once again, failed to provide a solid start. Shubman Gill succumbed to his second successive failure in the series and would be eager to capitalise on the opportunities in hand like Rahul Tripathi, who too perished cheaply in his debut game.
It was the second instance of the top-order collapse in the series.
But despite half the team returning to the dugout under 60 runs, it was heartening to see India still go for the chase as Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav almost pulled off the impossible.
In Axar, India have found a reliable like-for-like replacement of Ravindra Jadeja.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have given a solid fight to the hosts courtesy of skipper Dasun Shanaka’s brilliant batting. The reigning Asia Cup champions came back strongly to level the series. However, they would like their middle order to perform better.
(With PTI inputs)
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