Sri Lanka players Jeffrey Vandersay and Ashen Bandara were stretchered off the field after an ugly collision during the third and final ODI against India in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first at the Greenfield International Stadium, and the Men in Blue were marching towards a big total when the incident took place in the 43rd over.
Virat Kohli pulled the fifth delivery of Chamika Karunaratne’s over to the deep square leg boundary and both Vandersay and Bandara chased the ball. They then chose to slide and stop the white leather but that saw them collide with serious force. From the naked eye, it appeared as if whiplash did the most damage, particularly to Vandersay.
Not so good scenes from Trivandrum.
Just hoping that the injuries aren’t serious. #INDvsSL#GreenfieldStadium pic.twitter.com/7RhrzHOq18— Nirmal Jyothi (@majornirmal) January 15, 2023
https://twitter.com/Dwivedi1311/status/1614581280880095233
The Sri Lankan team physio came out onto the field in a flash and checked up on the pair. Eventually, both players were taken back on stretchers.
Thankfully, the immediate injuries did not appear to be quite as bad for Vandersay and Bandara though they were examined for concussion.
Dhananjaya De Silva and Dunith Wellalage were called in as substitutes for the injured fielders.
Play resumed seven minutes later allowing Kohli to reach the three-figure mark. He remained unbeaten on 166 (110), taking India’s total of 390/5.
Brief Scores: India 390/5 (Virat Kohli: 166 not out, Shubman Gill: 116) versus Sri Lanka.
