Top 3 T20I batting performances by Team India in Sri Lanka
Team India are currently in Sri Lanka for a short limited-overs series. They will play three ODIs and three T20Is against their Asian rivals.
Veteran Team India opener Shikhar Dhawan has been appointed captain of the side as the main squad, led by Virat Kohli, are touring England. Former Indian batsman Rahul Dravid has been appointed as the coach of the team for the Sri Lanka series.
With several Indian star players on duty in England, some fresh faces will get a chance to prove themselves in Sri Lanka ahead of the T20 World Cup in October-November, which will be held in the UAE.
Devdutt Padikkal, Chetan Sakariya, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Nitish Rana are among the new faces who received their maiden call-up to the Team India squad when the side for the Sri Lanka series was announced.
Team India have an excellent T20I record against the Lankans. They have won 13 and lost just five of the 19 matches between the teams. One game did not produce a result. In Sri Lanka as well, India have won four and lost only one.
Famous Team India T20I knocks in Sri Lanka
With Team India gearing up to face Sri Lanka in a limited-overs contest, we take a look at three impressive T20I batting efforts by Indians against the Lankans in Sri Lanka.
#3 Virat Kohli (68 off 48) - August 2012 in Pallekele
Virat Kohli scored a fine 68 off 48 deliveries as Team India defeated Sri Lanka in the one-off T20I in Pallekele in August 2012. The visitors were sent into bat after losing the toss. Kohli top-scored for Team India, taking them to a competitive 155 for 3.
Kohli hit 11 fours and a six during his stay at the crease. After Team India lost Gautam Gambhir for 6 in the second over, Kohli came in and crunched Angelo Mathews for consecutive fours. The first was pulled over midwicket while the second was punched past cover.
In the fourth over, bowled by Shaminda Eranga, he dispatched the bowler for three fours. The over began with a hit over point and was followed by a push past the same region and a lofted stroke over mid-off. Team India ended their powerplay on a high as Kohli took Thisara Perera for a hat-trick of boundaries, finding the gaps in the field with precision.
Kohli’s fifty came in 32 balls as he danced down the track and lofted left-arm spinner Rangana Herath over mid-off. He was eventually dismissed for 68, hitting Eranga to deep midwicket. An unbeaten 34 from Suresh Raina took Team India past 150. Irfan Pathan (3/27) and Ashok Dinda (4/19) then restricted Sri Lanka to 116.
#2 Virat Kohli (82 off 54) - September 2017 in Colombo
Virat Kohli loves chasing down targets, except when it comes to crunch ICC matches. In a one-off T20I against the Lankans at the Premadasa in September 2017, he smashed 82 in only 54 deliveries as Team India chased down 171 with ease.
Kohli came in early after India lost Rohit Sharma for nine. After taking a few singles to get his eye in, he danced down the track off the first ball of the eighth over to smash Seekkuge Prasanna into the sightscreen for a maximum. Team India reached 82 for 2 at the halfway stage as Kohli pulled and drove Thisara Perera for consecutive fours.
Kohli needed just 30 balls to bring up his fifty, with an inside-out cover drive off Prasanna for a couple. He looked set to take Team India past the victory line when he perished for 82, flicking a slower ball from Isuru Udana to deep midwicket.
Manish Pandey scored an unbeaten 51 as Team India got home in the last over with seven wickets in hand. Earlier, Yuzvendra Chahal (3/43) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/20) combined to keep Sri Lanka to 170 for 7 despite Dilshan Munaweera’s 29-ball 53.
#1 Shikhar Dhawan (90 off 49) - March 2018 in Colombo
Shikhar Dhawan, who will be leading the current Team India squad in Sri Lanka, hammered a brutal 90 off 49 balls in the first match of the Nidahas Trophy tri-series in Colombo in March 2018. The sizzling knock was in vain though as Sri Lanka romped home to victory by five wickets and with nine balls to spare.
Team India got off to a disastrous start batting first, losing Rohit Sharma without scoring and Suresh Raina for 1. Dhawan got some momentum into the innings by picking Nuwan Pradeep for consecutive boundaries to kick-off the fifth over.
After surviving an lbw appeal against Jeevan Mendis, he slop-swept the bowler for a maximum. Two more sixes followed in Pradeep’s next over, the ninth of the innings. On both occasions, the ball was top-edged over the ropes.
Dhawan brought up his fifty off 30 balls, smashing a wide delivery from Akila Dananjaya to the deep extra cover boundary. The left-hander picked another six off the same bowler in the 15th over, clobbering a short ball over deep midwicket. Three more sixes followed in the next two overs as Dhawan looked set for three figures.
The Team India opener, however, fell for 90, mistiming a wide delivery from Danushka Gunathilaka to long-off. Dhawan hit six fours and as many sixes in his innings as India recovered from 9 for 2 to post a credible 174 for 5. It wasn’t enough though as Kusal Perera’s 37-ball 66 guided the Lankans to a comprehensive win, with nine balls to spare.