Team India displayed top-class cricket in the first T20I against Sri Lanka, defeating the visitors by 62 runs at Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow to go 1-0 up in the three-match series. It was India’s 10 successive T20I triumph as they ended up breaking their own record of 9 consecutive victories in 2020.
From Ishan Kishan to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the hosts had a lot of positives in the opening fixture against the Lankans. Ishan played a blistering knock of 89 runs to help India post a humungous total of 199/2 on the board. Shreyas Iyer also sizzled with his crucial 57-run knock to keep the run-rate sky high.
In response, the tourists could only manage to reach 137/6, losing the contest by 62 runs. Bhuvneshwar shined with the ball for India, taking a couple of wickets while conceding only nine runs in two overs.
However, there was one area of concern that puzzled the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who didn’t mince his words speaking about it after the match. Rohit spoke about the fielding unit and expressed his disappointment.
Notably, India dropped as many as three catches in the match. While Venkatesh Iyer dropped a sitter in the third over, Shreyas also couldn’t hold on to a regulation catch in the sixth over. Then, in the 16th over, Jasprit Bumrah failed to grab the opportunity.
No wonder Rohit wasn’t happy with the effort fielders put in, mentioning the team is dropping easy catches. The Mumbaikar asserted they want to improve this area, especially in the lead up to the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia later this year.
“It is consistently happening. We are dropping easy catches, which is not expected at this level.. Our fielding coach has some work to do. We want to improve on this and come to Australia, we want to be a great fielding side,” said Rohit in the post-match presentation.
