Suryakumar Yadav leads from the front as Gambhir era starts with a thumping win

The Gautam Gambhir coaching era in Indian cricket started with an ultimately convincing 43-run victory over Sri Lanka at the Pallekele International Stadium on the outskirts of Kandy in the first T20I of a three-match series. The opening duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill led the way before a bright and breezy half-century from Suryakumar Yadav, the new captain, put India on course for a mammoth total. And though there were a few hiccups with the ball, Riyan Parag’s three late wickets gave the scoreline some gloss.

Parag and Rinku Singh, neither of whom were part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad, were two selections that bore the Gambhir imprint. Out went Washington Sundar, who had played in the T20I series in Zimbabwe, and so did Shivam Dube, part of the team that tasted glory in Barbados in June.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who opened in that World Cup final, have retired from India duty in the format, but they were hardly missed as Gill and Jaiswal rattled off 74 runs in the six overs of Powerplay. Gill made a classy 16-ball 34 before miscuing one down the ground, and Jaiswal, who had rampaged to a 21-ball 40, was stumped off Wanindu Hasaranga’s first delivery.

Suryakumar didn’t let those two wickets in two balls alter the team’s approach though, and he smacked two sixes and eight fours in a 26-ball 58. Rishabh Pant was more circumspect, though his 49 off 33 balls was hardly a sedate effort. At one point, India were eyeing upward of 250, but the slingshot yorkers of Matheesha Pathirana stemmed some of the late momentum.

Surya and Parag were both trapped in front by full deliveries, while Hardik Pandya was bowled off the pads by another yorker. Pant then played all around a slower ball as Pathirana, who credits MS Dhoni – his former Chennai Super Kings captain in the IPL – for much of his development, finished with 4/40.

In response, Sri Lanka were cruising at 140-1 after 14 overs, with Kusal Mendis having set the tone with a 27-ball 45. Pathum Nissanka batted beautifully for his 79, cracking four sixes and seven fours, but once he was deceived by an Axar Patel arm ball that he could only chop on to the stumps, the innings fell apart.

The score of 140-1 became 160-5 in the space of 13 balls, and Parag, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi and Mohammed Siraj ensured that no one outside the top four even made it to double figures. Parag’s part-time leg-spin fetched him eye-catching figures of 3-5 as Gambhir and his wards could finally reflect on a job well done.

In exclusive arrangement with RevSportz