Arshdeep Singh made a comeback in national colours after a long break. The left-arm pacer missed out on the first game because he was not fully fit. However, Singh was included in the playing XI for the second T20I in place of Harshal Patel. As India won the toss, captain Hardik Pandya asked Arshdeep Singh to bowl from the other end with the new ball. But the young pacer did not have the best of starts as he conceded as many as 19 runs in his first over.
On top of that, Singh bowled a hat-trick of no-balls. The pacer really lacked rhythm as he overstepped three times back-to-back. While Arshdeep’s first no-ball was a tight call, the pacer had his foot way ahead of the white line on the next two occasions. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka scored 11 runs on the free-hit deliveries.
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These three no-balls from Arshdeep allowed Mendis to settle in as the Lankan opener scored a brisk half-century. Mendis got to his half-century off just 27 balls as Sri Lanka scored 55 runs in the first six overs.
However, Yuzvendra Chahal finally got rid of Mendis as he trapped the batter LBW. Chahal bowled a good loopy leg break to lure Mendis into playing a nudge down the short leg. The batter, however, failed to connect and it hit him on his pads. While the on-field umpire was not convinced, the third umpire adjudged Mendis out after Hardik Pandya asked for a review.
