Fans join hands to sing Vande Mataram in unison at Guwahati Stadium

2020 started on a damp note for Team India and its fans. The first T20I between India and Sri Lanka, on Sunday, was abandoned without a ball being bowled in Guwahati. The caravan will now move to Indore for the second T20I on January 7 before Pune hosts the third and final T20I on January 10. The ongoing series is India’s first assignment this year.

The toss for the series-opener went ahead as usual on time before rain arrived. But after a while, it stopped and the jam-packed Guwahati stadium must have hoped for a positive outcome. However, the poor arrangement at the ground dashed everyone’s hopes.  While the ground staff worked extremely hard to make the ground dry to help in a quick start, they just could not get the desired result.

Also Read: ‘What a shame!’ – Twitter lashes out at officials for using hair dryer to dry the pitch in Guwahati

And while the ground staff was busy in drying the pitch and the players were waiting for the game to start, the fans decided to make their presence felt. In a stunning scene, the entire stadium started singing the national song of India – ‘Vande Mataram’ – in complete synchronization. The fans turned the flashlights of their mobile phones on to make the surrounding even more compelling.

The official handle of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took to social media platform to share a video from the ground as they captioned it: “Guwahati, you beauty #INDvSL”

Guwahati, you beauty 😍#INDvSL pic.twitter.com/QuZAq7i1E3

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 5, 2020

‘Will take T20Is more seriously’ – India captain Virat Kohli

Unlike Tests and ODIs, India have struggled for consistency in T20Is in the last year or so. At the start of 2019, they lost the T20I series to New Zealand and Australia. At the start of the ongoing home season, India drew the T20I series against South Africa and also lost games to Bangladesh and West Indies.

It would be a matter of concern for the team management ahead of this year’s T20 World Cup. And skipper Virat Kohli insisted that the team would treat the T20Is more seriously this year with an eye on the World Cup in Australia.

“Last year was outstanding for us in two formats, T20s not so much. Good thing though is that we have a World Cup coming up and we’ll be taking things more seriously,” Kohli said at the toss.