Team India is taking on New Zealand in the World Test Championship (WTC) final that started from Friday at Southampton. After the rains washed off the first day, New Zealand won the toss and decided to field on Day 2.
Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill found their way through the deadly swingers and put up a formidable 62-run stand before the former edged a Kyle Jamieson ball. Gill, too, couldn’t stand tall for long as he was caught by the wicketkeeper BJ Watling off a Neil Wagner delivery.
The number three batter Cheteshwar Pujara tried to play the anchor role and be the bulwark for the side, similar to how he had tackled the Australians during the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2020/21. Pujara unhurriedly paced through his time at the crease and got his first runs in the form of a boundary off the 36th delivery he played.
Taking cognizance of the same, a Sri Lankan fan Daniel Alexander taunted the Saurashtra-cricketer for paying tribute to the ’36 all out’ of his team during the second innings of the Adelaide Test.
“Pujara got off the mark in the 36th delivery as a tribute to their “36 all out” in the Adelaide Test inns. #Cricket”, Alexander tweeted.
Pujara got off the mark in the 36th delivery as a tribute to their 36 allout in the Adelaide Test inns. #Cricket
— Daniel Alexander (@daniel86cricket) June 19, 2021
However, the dig didn’t go down well with the Indian fans, who quickly slammed the Islander for his mean comments. While some pulled his leg for the dismal performance of Dimuth Karunaratne & Co. in the WTC cycle, others pointed out that the Men in Blue’s so-called B team would be touring Sri Lanka for three ODIs and as many T20Is in July.
Is there a vaccine for this disease ?! https://t.co/OtcCBLukco
— ஃ (@DS1285) June 19, 2021
https://twitter.com/devuni_ganesh/status/1406237707303473152
What a crybaby. https://t.co/soUW7gMJ16
— Milan. (@milan_says) June 19, 2021
Damn your Cricketing stats..That same team breached a fort called Gaabba🔥🔥 against am full blood Aussie side…. https://t.co/IogylEspM5
— SRINI SHYAM (@SriniShyam115) June 19, 2021
Poor guy …we would have missed this gold if he scored at 35 or 37 😄 https://t.co/eqGYI47bLW
— Midhun Das (@midhunazrbjn) June 19, 2021
It was a tribute to when Akila Dhananjaya got hit for 36 runs in an over by Pollard. #INDvsNZ #WTCFinal2021 #Southhampton #pujara #NZvsIND https://t.co/xYkODxDzdG
— Bonkers 😎 (@bhhatu) June 19, 2021
Ahh we are sending our B team against your country's team..And definitely they gonna rip ur team apart..Btw where is Sri Lanka in ICC Test Rankings..🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/aFPqOuA8us
— Shrey Singh Rajput (@Krish379317689) June 19, 2021
This guy is a secretly the biggest fan of the Indian team. Even superfans don't statsgasm like this, so consistently. #DanielLovesIndia https://t.co/sidcijL7VL
— Gautam (@gautammahajan11) June 19, 2021
Meanwhile, India were positioned at 146/3 at the end of Day 2, with skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane batting on 44 and 29, respectively.
