Ravichandran Ashwin received a taste of his own medicine as spinner S Mohan Prasath warned him at the non-striker’s end during the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2024 match between Dindigul Dragons and Nellai Royal Kings on Sunday. The incident took place on the first over of the Dragons innings as Ashwin was on striker’s end and the bowler noticed that he was leaving the crease before the delivery was bowled. Prasath stopped midway into his action and warned Ashwin before taking his position back to resume his bowling. It was interesting as Ashwin had warned and even dismissed batters for leaving the crease on the non-striker’s end and the video of this incident has gone viral.
Ashbe like : School Headmaster
TNPL | Dindigul Dragons vs Nellai Royal Kings | Star Sports #TNPLOnStar #TNPL2024 #NammaOoruNammaGethu @TNPremierLeague pic.twitter.com/fI97alqNJl
– Star Sports Tamil (@StarSportsTamil) July 28, 2024
Meanwhile, Yashasvi Jaiswal and skipper Suryakumar Yadav displayed their wide array of strokes as India took an unassailable 2-0 lead, winning the rain-curtailed second T20I by seven wickets.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir and new captain Suryakumar couldn’t have asked for a better start to their new roles as the Indian team played like true T20 World Champions outplaying Sri Lanka in all departments.
Despite Shubman Gill‘s absence due to neck spasm and another failure in the format for the ever-hyped Sanju Samson (0), Jaiswal (30 off 15 balls) and Suryakumar (26 off 12 balls) didn’t even break a sweat in their short but tricky chase of 78 in 8 overs after another fine effort by bowlers had restricted Sri Lanka to 161 for 9.
Just when Maheesh Theekshana looked dangerous getting Samson with a carrom ball and squaring up Surya with a doosra, the Mumbai duo decided to bring the sweep shot — both conventional and reverse — out of the closet.
The strategy was to not allow Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga‘s deliveries to deviate off the surface and create confusion.
Instead, the India batters used their reach to good effect and smother the turn. They added 39 in 3.1 overs and by the time Surya and Jaiswal were dismissed, they had hit seven fours and three sixes between them.
It was left to Hardik Pandya (22 not out off 9 balls) and Rishabh Pant (2 not out) to complete the formalities in 6.3 overs and render the final match of the series on Tuesday inconsequential.
Earlier, Surya called right and his bowlers did a repeat act on successive days with the home team losing as many as seven wickets for 31 runs in their last 30 balls after being comfortably placed at 130 for 2 in 15 overs.
Despite scoring 80 in the first 10 overs and in a position to accelerate, Charith Asalanka‘s side lost its way, managing just 81 runs in the back-10 as Pandya’s (2/23 in 2 overs) change of pace and Ravi Bishnoi‘s (3/26 in 4 overs) fast googlies did the trick.
Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh also chipped in with two wickets each.
(With PTI inputs)
Topics mentioned in this article