Team India is currently hosting Sri Lanka in the opening game of the three-match T20I series at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The Sri Lankan spinner, Maheesh Theekshana is one the best spinners in world cricket and he has often been seen troubling the opposition batters with his variations. However, Maheesh Theekshana decided to use pace as his weapon by bowling a toe-crushing yorker to India’s stand-in skipper, Hardik Pandya just like Pakistan’s great Waqar Younis.
Sri Lanka was impressive with the ball as they restricted the opposition to 101/5 from 15 overs at the venue which is known for being a batting-friendly surface. Maheesh Theekshana was impressive with his bowling conceding just 29 runs and taking a solitary wicket. The spinner is known for his variations but he surprised everyone in the game by using pace as his weapon to knock down Hardik Pandya.
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Theekshana was bowling the 13th over of the innings and Hardik was looking to switch gears. However, the bowler was aware of the intention of the batter and he came up with a brilliant plan. Theekshana fired the penultimate ball of the over at a rapid pace in the blockhole. The ball swung late and Hardik was seen having trouble while digging it out.
The sensational delivery from Maheesh Theekshana reminded fans of the Pakistan great Waqar Younis and even commentators emphasized it. Here is the video of the incident:
— MAHARAJ JI (@MAHARAJ96620593) January 3, 2023
India (Playing XI): Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya (c), Deepak Hooda, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Shivam Mavi, Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal
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Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka
Spectators praised the bowler for his delivery and flooded social media with their reactions.
Theekshana 😂Brilliant bowler pic.twitter.com/bWK61wsFNE
— Shantanu 🎶 (@Shantanu630) January 3, 2023
Mahesh Theekshana . What a bowler ! Impeccable control
Watching today's game , I feel @mipaltan missed the trick by going only for genuine quickies & completely ignoring spin at the Wankhede #INDvSL #INDvsSL— DONTOMJAMES (@DONTOMJAMES) January 3, 2023
Mahesh Theekshana bowls a Yorker 😳
Which completely beats hardik pandya 🔥#HardikPandya #INDvsSL pic.twitter.com/4EPBqTnd9l— cric_mawa (@cric_mawa_twts) January 3, 2023
Whatte ball from Theekshana..👏🏻
Completely caught Pandya off-guard 😵— Akash Marathe (@ruskievityazi) January 3, 2023
Theekshana can bowl yorkers too. Death Overs Specialist for CSK 🥵🔥
— Rodony 𓃬 (@Rodony_) January 3, 2023
Nah, man. Theekshana is bowling yorkers now 😭😭
We need him to bowl in powerplay, middle overs and d3ath 😭😭
— ; (@AIH183no) January 3, 2023
So CSK's death bowler is Theekshana. Yorker soruvuran😂
— Guruveth Avinash (@guruveth12) January 3, 2023
