PUNE: On the eve of the first T20I against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India skipper Hardik Pandya promised to back the young players in his new-look squad. And he did that by handing debuts to Shubman Gill and Shivam Mavi and the latter made a brilliant start to claim 4-22 and helped India to a two-run win in a last-ball thriller.
Mavi, 24, made great use of the slow-paced Wankhede pitch to claim his maiden four-fer, becoming only the third Indian to do so on debut. But Gill could score only seven runs and left India and Hardik Pandya to solve another opening conundrum.
Gill will expect Pandya to give him another opportunity in the second T20 match at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Thursday.
India on their part will expect a better performance from the top order as Gill, Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson failed to fire at the Wankhede, getting out while trying to force the pace against the Sri Lankan slow bowlers.
Their shot selection was not up to their usual standard and the team management will expect better efforts from them here as that will help India take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
While the Indian top-order failed, Deepak Hooda and Axar Patel came up with brilliant rear-guard efforts to help the team post something the bowlers can defend.
The pitch is expected to be a typical MCA pitch, good for batting with assistance to spin bowling. IANS
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