Sri Lanka vs India 2021, 2nd ODI – Who Said What

The 2^nd ODI between Sri Lanka and India saw the light of the day on July 20, 2021. Winning the toss, Dasun Shanaka and company decided to take the field with the bat first and posted good 275 runs on the board. India won the game by three wickets and the ODI series eventually as Deepak Chahar showed crazy class and intent and was declared as the player of the match ultimately.

The SL batters shined from top to bottom as two stunning fifties came by opener Avishka Fernando (50 off 71) and Charith Asalanka (65 off 68). Chamika Karunaratne remained in runs this time again and added 44 runs from his bat. Vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar came back to picking wickets in the game and clinched three on his name by conceding 54 runs. Yuzvendra Chahal on the other end got the early breakthroughs and picked three wickets as well.

Deepak Chahar unfolds classy show against Sri Lanka

India certainly didn’t get off to a great start as they started losing wickets at regular intervals. The opening partnership didn’t fetch the required results and only Surya Kumar Yadav could pull off a respectable inning (53 off 44). However, what followed next was no less than a dreamy affair as Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar pulled off a classy partnership of 84 runs. The magical show by Chahar was there for all to see as he brought on the table an unimaginable feat (69* off 82) and pushed India to get over the line. Wanindu Hasaranga picked three wickets for the home side.

Winning skipper, Shikhar Dhawan said:

It felt that the wicket today was much better and we restricted them to a good score. The spinner fought back and the bowlers adjusted their lines and lengths when their batsmen were in. We didn’t start well and it is a good learning lesson for the youngsters that everyday is not the same. They will understand how to handle these situations and how to bring in new strategies. The way Manish Pandey and Suryakumar were batting, we thought they would take us home. The way Krunal fought in the middle was amazing. Everyone showed character. We knew that Chahar has worked hard in the nets on his batting. His presence of mind and calculations against the leg-spinner was amazing. Both Bhuvi and him calculated it really well. I felt the way Sri Lanka planned their innings in both their batting and bowling was amazing. The way they batted and fielded was good to watch. They worked really hard, but glad that we are on the winning side. Every game is a learning lesson and we hope to analyze and get better. We want to put up a good show all the time.

Losing skipper, Dasun Shanaka said:

I’m really proud of how the boys played today. They fought hard to get a win. Really tough game, credit to the Indian players, especially Deepak who took the game away from us. I think we started really well today. The middle period we lost wickets; I think the thing we shouldn’t do in the next game is give them easy wickets. We should bat well until the last powerplay. I didn’t bowl for a long time because there were enough bowlers in the team, but I took a chance today.

The Player of the match, Deepak Chahar said:

 It was hot there, we did well there. Got two wickets. We managed to stop them at 270. It was a decent score [to chase] on this wicket. Only one thing that was going on in my mind: this is the kind of innings I’ve been dreaming of. No better way to win the match for the country. Rahul sir told me to play all the balls. I’ve played a few innings with India A and I think he has belief in me. He told me he thinks I’m good enough to be a No. 7. He has belief in me. Hopefully in the coming matches I don’t have to bat. When we came under 50 is when I believed we can win. Before that it was ball by ball. I took some risks after.