India To Take On Sri Lanka In 1st T20I Of Three-Match Series In Pallekele Today

by Hemanta Pande

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

India will take on Sri Lanka in the opening match of the three-match T20I series at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele in Sri Lanka today.

Pallekele, July 27: India will take on Sri Lanka in the opening match of the three-match T20I series at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele in Sri Lanka today.

The match is scheduled to start at 7 PM IST.

The new era of Indian cricket is on the rise after a successful 2024 T20I World Cup campaign in the West Indies and the USA.

With the retirement of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja from the shortest format of the game, India are formally kick-starting their next era under a new captain in Suryakumar Yadav and a new head coach in Gautam Gambhir.

This will be Suryakumar Yadav's first match as a permanent T20I captain of India. Earlier, Suryakumar has done leadership duties against Australia and South Africa, where he did a decent job.

Gambhir will also begin his first assignment as head coach of the men-in-blue.

India: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj.

Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Charith Asalanka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dinesh Chandimal, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dasun Shanaka, Matheesha Pathirana, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Binura Fernando

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Drunk Men Abuse Coast Guard DIG And His Wife In Bhubaneswar

by Pabitra Mohan Senapaty

Bhubaneswar, Oct 18: At a time when the harassment of an Army officer and his fiancee has not been erased from people's minds, another such incident in the capital city that occurred late on Thursday night has only deepened the 'unsafe' fear.

In the incident that was reported in the Nayapalli area, a DIG of the Coast Guard and his wife were allegedly stopped and abused by two drunk men when they were returning home after shopping.

The couple was stopped on the road near Kalinga Stadium. Two road Romeos riding on a bike misbehaved with the wife of the DIG who was sitting in the car. The DIG and two road Romeos got into a scuffle soon.

On a complaint filed at the New Town Police Station, police have detained the two accused and are interrogating them.

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We Were Fortunate To Get Virat Kohli's Wicket On That Delivery, Says William O'Rourke

by Pabitra Mohan Senapaty

Bengaluru, Oct 18: New Zealand pacer William O'Rourke feels that he was fortunate to take Virat Kohli's dismissal on the ball which was going down the leg in the first Test against India on Thursday.

Kohli departed on a nine-ball duck as he edged the ball which was taken by Glenn Phillips at the leg gully on the second day in Bengaluru. India had an abysmal outing in the first innings under overcast conditions as they were bowled out for just 46 runs, their lowest-ever Test score at home and their third-lowest in history.

"I think just with my angle back in, having that leg gully in place was meant to bring him into play. It was obviously an attacking option for us. We were fortunate to get the wicket. I don’t think that was exactly the delivery I intended, but it worked and I got his wicket, so I’m happy about it," O'Rourke told JioCinema.

The weather conditions and moisture on the pitch supported Kiwi seamers and O'Rourke said he felt like playing at home. "Very similar to the conditions back home. I think we weren't expecting too much assistance in the morning. We were probably going to bat as well if we won the toss. So, it was nice to see the ball nipping around, and I could just run in and do my thing," the pacer said.

"I think we were excellent in the field today. A few diving chances and I think that's what we pride ourselves on. We probably haven't been as good as we wanted to be in the last few Tests. So, coming out here and putting on a show like that was really special," he added.

Playing for the first time in India, O'Rourke returned with the figures of 4-22 in his 12 overs and credited the Sri Lanka series for getting a sense of the subcontinental conditions.

"It’s my first time playing in the subcontinent so it’s obviously a little bit different from back home, but playing those first two Tests in Sri Lanka really helped prepare me to come out here and just focus on doing my own thing," he said.

After dismissing India for a dismal total, the visitors ended day two on 180 for 3, leading by 134 runs. Devon Conway was the standout for the visitors, scoring 91 runs, while Will Young contributed 33. Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja bagged one scalp each but India face an uphill task to recover from their nightmare start in the series opener.

India To Take On Sri Lanka In 1st T20I Of Three-Match Series In Pallekele Today

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