T20 World Champions India, recently took on their southern neighbours, the Sri Lankans in a 3-match T20I series away from home. So let’s take a look at the top 3 takeaways from the recently concluded bilateral series which India won, 3-0, in spectacular fashion.
New Head Coach and Captain excel
This T20I series was special for a lot of reasons. The first and foremost was obviously Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as the new head coach of India. The bilateral series was Gambhir’s first stint as the Indian head coach. And needless to say, the start of his Era has been super impressive. Apart from a new Coach, Team India was also led by a new captain in the form of Suryakumar Yadav. And just like Gautam Gambhir, SKY’s leadership qualities shone brightly throughout the series.
Whether it may be Gautam Gambhir turning Rinku Singh and Riyan Parag into Death overs specialists or Suryakumar Yadav trusting himself to bowl the final over in the last thriller of the series. The most important aspect of this series was to find the right balance in the team. Winning 3-0 on foreign soil while giving opportunities to many players means that the Indian Dressing Room has now checked off many boxes.
India Certified: Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Riyan Parag
3 players who put their hands up to show what they are all about in this series were Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi and Riyan Parag. For some time now, Ravi Bishnoi has been proving himself in the Indian colours but somehow manages not to feature when it comes to playing tournaments. A few months back, he was also ranked no. 1 in the world in T20s and still missed the flight to the USA for the T20 WC. In Washington Sundar’s case, he has been there in and out of the team for a long time now. Having played all three formats for India, it’s finally time for him to shine. Enough of the rotational role that he keeps on playing in the Indian team.
Riyan Parag’s case is again, different than the other 2 names mentioned above. Getting his debut recently for India in the Zimbabwe series, people were confused and some were even outraged when Riyan Parag was given the call-up for the Sri Lanka series ahead of other candidates. But Gautam Gambhir showed as to why Parag can be so vital for India moving forward. And it’s not because of his batting ability. But rather because of what he provides with the ball. The middle-order batsman is quite a handy bowler who actually bowled in the death in the 1st match of the series picking up 3 wickets in the 8 balls that he bowled. Furthermore, the Rajasthan Royals player bowled his full quota of 4 overs in the subsequent matches as well.
