Yashasvi Jaiswal blazed away to a characteristic rapid start on day one of the second Test match against Sri Lanka. He took down Asitha Fernando in the 17th over of the morning, driving, ramping, and pulling three of the first four balls to pick up twelve runs to race to 45.
However, Fernando had the last laugh when he pitched the last ball on a length, brought it in a tad, and bowled Jaiswal. Fernando (and what seemed like some teammates) gave Jaiswal a send-off. Jaiswal halted his long walk back to respond, and it took some effort from fielding captain Dhananjaya de Silva to get things back underway. It is not clear whether one or both of Fernando and Jaiswal will be penalised and, if yes, to what extent.
“Just bubbling underneath is a slightly combative person”After the day’s play, Harsha Bhogle spoke about the incident on Cricbuzz: “As he [Jaiswal] is walking away, you can hear someone say something to him. I’ve never been a fan of send-offs, as a lot of you know. Once you’ve got a batter out, that’s good enough, but there’s a send-off because remember, there’s a history with, uh, with Niroshan Dickwella in Galle.”
In the first Test at Galle, Jaiswal sledged Dickwella, goading the latter to go for shots when the situation demanded otherwise. Dickwella fell shortly afterwards.
“So someone said something to him [in SSC]. The best thing to do in such a situation is just to walk away, but he turns and comes back. That’s when everybody comes in. They got a little too close for my comfort.
“And all I will say to Jaiswal is, yes, maybe what was said should not have been said, but as you give, so you must take. The easiest thing is just to go away. With Jaiswal, so much talent, but just bubbling underneath is a slightly combative person, and the last thing I would want for someone of his extraordinary ability is to let that person override the extraordinary batter that he is and get him into, a little bit of trouble.
“He was provoked, but this is Test match cricket. He provokes as well. I thought they got a little too close for comfort.”
“India will fight and reply”
Cricbuzz posted the clip on Instagram hours after the first day’s play at SSC. Before the second morning of the Test, Jaiswal commented on the post: “If you don’t know what he said then please don’t make your judgment if anyone cross [sic] the line we need to let them know this India will fight and reply.”
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