Team India keeper-batter Rishabh Pant crafted an outrageous helicopter shot to dispatch it in the crowd in the 1st T20I against Sri Lanka in Pallekele. The left-handed batter has been preferred over Sanju Samson in the playing XI as Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka won the toss and put the tourists into bat.
The incident occurred in the 16th over of the innings sent down by right-arm pacer Asitha Fernando. Fernando looked for the wide yorker, but instead bowled a full toss at a comfortable length. The left-hander took position quickly and played a helicopter shot to send the ball in the crowd on the on-side.
Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav's 76-run partnership set things up for India:
Meanwhile, Indian openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill hit boundaries at will from the outset and stitched a partnership of 74 only in 6 overs. After the openers perished in quick succession, Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant took over. Skipper Suryakumar was especially relentless and innovative in putting the ball away to the boundary.
Suryakumar was the first to go between him and Rishabh Pant for 58 as Matheesha Pathirana broke thei 76-run stand. Nevertheless, the likes of Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, and Rinku Singh fell flat when it came to playing the finishing role. Pant made 49 off 33 deliveries as India still finished with a total of 213/7 in 20 overs.
