Star Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sri Lankan pacer Asitha Fernando got into a heated altercation on Day 1 of the second Test after the Indian batter
was dismissed at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on August 23 (Sunday). Jaiswal edged the final ball of Fernando's sixth over into his stumps and got out after scoring a good 45 off 53 deliveries. However, the spotlight shifted from the match to a tense moment between the two players as they were seen exchanging some heated words with each other, as Fernando seemed to give Jaiswal a harsh send-off as he walked back. After a heated exchange of words, Jaiswal appeared to have headbutted Fernando, who later seemed to have pushed the opener back. As things took a nasty turn, SL captain Dhananjaya de Silva quickly separated the two. Earlier, Lahir Kumara got rid of Jaiswal's partner KL Rahul in the 11th over. The veteran batter edged a ball from Kumara behind to wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella as he got out after scoring 18 runs off 33 balls. The hosts managed to get the wickets of both Indian openers by the 17th over itself and got a good grip on the match in the first session of the opening day.
Shubman Gill Elects To Bat
Shubman Gill-led Indian cricket team won the toss and elected to bat against Dhananjaya de Silva's Sri Lanka in the 2nd Test. The bigger news at the toss was that Kuldeep Yadav was unavailable for the match as he had some infections and that Saransh Jain will be making his International debut.
"Batting first, yes. [On the pitch] It looks like a much harder, much better surface compared to Galle. Galle was also a very good wicket, but I think as the game went on, it got a little bit slower and the ball started to turn. We're expecting the same, but I think for the first two or three days, I think it'll be a really good wicket to bat on. [Playing XI] Kuldeep, unfortunately, had some infections, so he misses out, and Saransh makes his debut for India," said Shubman Gill at the toss.
"[How he would rate the Galle win] I would say probably a nine, because there's always room for improvement, and I think we played a pretty good match, a decent match. And obviously there were some areas where we could have got a little bit better, but, you know, this is Test cricket. It's very, very difficult to be able to have a near-perfect game because you're playing for five days, and to play that dominant and consistent cricket, especially in Test, is hard. But I think overall we had a pretty good match," he added.
India are hoping to clean sweep Sri Lanka as they are already leading the series 1-0. At the time of writing, Shubman Gill and Devdutt Padikkal are on the pitch for India as they are trying to help the visitors recover from the early blows.
