Skipper Charith Asalanka of the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team has been brilliance personified for his home team in the ongoing second ODI against the India National Cricket Team. This match is being held at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, and Asalanka’s performance has been a highlight in this game.
Charith Asalanka, who proved to be a thorn in the flesh of Indian batters in the first ODI too, carried that form into the second game as well. He dealt another vital blow to the Indian team by sending back Axar Patel, who was batting well and kept India’s hopes alive in the chase.
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The key moment came with the first ball of the 34th over. Asalanka bowled a length ball from around the wicket, which held onto the pitch as Axar Patel punched off the back foot. But Patel was early into his shot and simply didn’t keep the ball down. He was out, unfortunate dismissal perhaps.
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He turned out to be quite agile and blessed with presence of mind, as he moved to his left smartly to take a brilliant low catch, sending Patel back to the pavilion. That was an exceptional fielding effort by the Sri Lankan skipper, which completely turned the game on its head and left the Indian camp and coach Gautam Gambhir in shock. This proved to be a major blow to India because Axar Patel was turned out at a juncture when he was going good and was one of the chief architects in their pursuit of victory.
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Charith Asalanka is again proving his worth to the Sri Lankan team with this all-round performance by showing important spells with the ball and on the field. The way he stepped up on many occasions has been one of the big reasons that kept the pressure on the Indian team all the time in this game. As the game goes through, the contributions that Asalanka made will likely be remembered as one of the key features of Sri Lanka’s strategy and performance in this ODI series.
