India beat Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the series to clinch the series against the visitors at Dharamshala. Rohit Sharma and his team have now won back to back T20I series’ first was against the West Indies, which they won 3-0, and now, they lead 2-0 against Dasun Shanaka’s Sri Lankan team.
India defeated Sri Lanka in the second T20I in the three-match series at Dharamshala to take an unassailable lead. This is India’s second T20I series victory on the trot this year after previously beating West Indies 3-0 just a week back. The Indian team under Rohit Sharma‘s captaincy has performed brilliantly so far. Even after key players like Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant were rested for the matches against Sri Lanka, India managed to beat them in the first two games itself.
Deepak Chahar and Suryakumar Yadav, who had been featuring regularly for India in the T20I team, were not available after suffering injuries. This allowed players like Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer to be a part of the playing XI and they made sure to make the most of their opportunity.
During the post-match presentation, Rohit Sharma said, “I think it was pleasing to see for us. The middle-order coming out and performing is good to see those guys taking the responsibility and finishing off games. I don’t want to be too harsh on the bowlers. It can happen these days, but we restricted them in the first 15 overs. It was a good pitch to bat on as well. A lot of these guys are talented. They just need an opportunity to express themselves and backing from our side. To finish the way they did was really good. Jaddu came and looked positive from ball one and Shreyas as well. We lost a couple of wickets, but we wanted someone to stay till the end.”
Shreyas Iyer was adjudged the player of the match for his breath-taking knock of 74 from 44 balls which included six boundaries and four sixes as he batted with a staggering strike rate of 168.18. He made sure India raced towards the 184 run target with 17 balls to spare.
During the post-match presentation, Shreyas Iyer on being asked about his trademark shot said, “That (back and across) is my go-to movement and I feel my body releases and I sight the ball well”.
He further added, “It was really important for me to time the ball because it was swinging and seaming. Sanju came in and we built a crucial partnership”.
Iyer praised Ravindra Jadeja and said, “Jaddu bhai came in and it was a cruise”.
He also talked about why he backed himself to step out against the spinners and said, “I realised that the ball was not turning and thought stepping out would be a good option. Even if I mistime it on this ground, the ball would go to the boundary”.
