India opener Mayank Agarwal on Saturday walked out to bat in front of his home crowd for the first time in a Test match. He even had a stylish start to his innings in the Pink Test against Sri Lanka, scoring his first runs with a boundary. But before he could stack a healthy opening partnership with captain Rohit Sharma, his stint at the crease came to bizarre end.
Mayank was run out in the very next over in what could be the most unfortunate dismissal. Pacer Vishwa Fernando bowled a back of length delivery that skid sharply to hit the batter’s pad. The Lankans made a confident appeal while Mayank dashed towards the other end as the ball rolled down to covers. (IND vs SL 2nd Test Day 1 Live Updates)
Meanwhile, Jayawickrama came running from point and threw the ball to Niroshan Dickwella. The visitors seemed to have wanted a referral for the LBW as the wicketkeeper signalled for a DRS before dislodging the bails.
While Rohit, at the non-striker’s end, was trying to understand what just happened, on-field umpire Anil Chaudhary signalled a no-ball as Fernando had overstepped. Since the run out stood valid, Mayank had to walk back.
It was a much-needed breakthrough for the Lankans but for Mayank, it was an utter disappointment. He was dismissed after scoring just 4 off 7 balls.
Earlier, India won the toss and opted to bat first on a dry Bengaluru track. Speaking at the toss, Rohit informed that India have brought in Axar Patel in place of Jayant Yadav for this day-night match.
“We are going to bat first. It looks like a dry pitch and runs on the board are important. Axar Patel is fit and he comes in for Jayant. It has a lot to do with the conditions. Unfortunate for Jayant to miss out after just one game,” Rohit said.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka made two changes to their playing XI, bringing in Kusal Mendis and Praveen Jayawickrama in place of the injured Lahiru Kumar and Pathum Nissanka.
“The wicket is pretty dry and it will turn later on, so we wanted to bat first as well. We spoke about the things we did wrong in the last Test. Nissanka and Kumara are not available. Kusal Mendis and Praveen Jayawickrama come in,” said Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne.
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