Team India players and head coach Gautam Gambhir were left worried when Ravi Bishnoi suffered a nasty blow on his face during the first T20I against Sri Lanka on Saturday (July 27) at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
The incident took place in the 16th over, when the leg-spinner was bowling towards Kamindu Mendis. On the first ball of the over, Ravi Bishnoi bowled a googly and Mendis failed to read the delivery. As a result, the left-handed batsman ended up taking a front edge to the right of the Indian bowler.
It was a tough chase, but Ravi Bishnoi tried to catch the ball with his outstretched hand. He managed to catch it, but he couldn’t hold on to it. The ball slipped out of his hand as it fell to the ground. The ball then bounced on the ground before hitting Bishnoi just below the eye.
It was a painful blow and Bishnoi’s reaction made that abundantly clear. The bowler was seen grimacing in pain as the physiotherapist rushed onto the field. Meanwhile, worried players rushed to the young bowler to check on him. Gambhir also looked worried as Bishnoi received treatment. The blow left a cut under his eye but he was cleared to continue playing.
Watch Ravi Bishnoi suffer the freak injury:
– Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (@Hanji_CricDekho) July 27, 2024
— Kirkit Expert (@expert42983) July 27, 2024
Talking about the game, Sri Lanka were at 170 for 8 after 19 overs at the time of writing this report. They need 44 runs from the last over to win the ongoing match.
Earlier in the match, a brilliant half-century from captain Suryakumar Yadav helped India post a total of 213/7 in 20 overs after they were asked to bat first. Suryakumar scored 58 runs in just 26 balls with the help of 8 fours and 2 sixes. The likes of Rishabh Pant (49), Yashasvi Jaiswal (40) and Shubman Gill (34) also had crucial knocks.
India got off to a good start as Gill and Jaiswal put on 74 runs to get the first wicket. However, they soon found themselves in trouble after Sri Lanka dismissed both their openers on successive deliveries.
But captain Suryakumar did not allow the visitors to take advantage of those breakthroughs and put India back in the driving seat by scoring a fine fifty. For Sri Lanka, Matheesha Pathirana impressed with the ball, taking 4 for 40 in his 4 overs.
