Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav and all-rounder Hardik Pandya were left fuming at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday despite the Men in Blue’s emphatic 61-run win against arch rivals Pakistan. In a video that has since gone viral on social media, both Pandya and Suryakumar can be seen angry at Kuldeep Yadav during the post-match celebrations.
Why were Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav angry?
While India were comfortably sailing towards victory against Pakistan with nine wickets already down in the clash, the Men in Blue got a little sloppy in the field towards the end of the innings. During the 18th over of the match, India dropped two catches in a short interval, both coming off the bowling of Hardik Pandya.
In the first instance, Shaheen Shah Afridi stepped out of the crease to hit Pandya for a big shot but only ended up getting a faint edge to the delivery that carried straight to wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan, who dropped the catch. Pandya wasn’t too happy with Kishan and he let it be known that very instance.
On the very next ball, Afridi hit a shot directly to Kuldeep Yadav on the boundary line. Kuldeep not only dropped the catch but also inadvertently pushed the ball over the boundary line for a six. Pandya was left infuriated and that frustration from the ace all-rounder continued even after he took the final wicket, as he was seen giving a mouthful to Kuldeep.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav was also seen visibly unhappy with Kuldeep for the customary post-match handshakes.
Apart from the two dropped catches in Pandya’s over, even Tilak Varma had dropped a catch of his own bowling a short while back, which denied him his second wicket in the match.
What happened during the India vs Pakistan clash?
At a spin-friendly track in Colombo, Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha won the toss and decided to field first. The Men in Blue lost the wicket of Abhishek Sharma quickly but his opening partner Ishan Kishan gave a blazing start to the innings with a 77-run knock. While there was a middle-order collapse of sorts for India, the Men in Blue still managed to put on a total of 175 runs in their quota of 20 overs.
In reply, Salman Agha’s men never really got going in the chase and were bowled out for a total of 114, as the four primary Indian bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy all took two wickets apiece.
