‘Lost in his own world’: Jaiswal tackles Sri Lankan footballer, falls to the ground and suffers bizarre outburst

Yashavi Jaiswal He made a promising start to his batting in the opening innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka In Galle on Saturday. But his 32-run knock ended in one of the strangest at-bats you’re ever likely to see, after a bizarre mix-up with… Kuala Lumpur Rahul.

It happened on the last ball of the 11th over of the first session when Rahul accurately drove a quick delivery from Keshara Nwantha towards mid-off and cruised for a single. Jaiswal answered the call and also took off, but the fielder slid to his right in an attempt to stop the ball and collided with the Indian batsman.

Jaiswal lost his balance and fell to the ground, while Rahul, who had already reached almost mid-on, saw the ball being picked up quickly at mid-on and hesitated.

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Jaiswal also looked unsure after getting back to his feet, but then indicated his desire to continue running. Rahul responded by reversing his direction and running towards the player’s end.

But Jaiswal suddenly changed his mind again and tried to return to the fielder’s end, leaving both batsmen stuck at the same end. Rahul edged it first, leaving Jaiswal wide of the crease.

The fielder bowled the ball to wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella, who did not take the bails initially. Instead, he turned towards skipper Dhananjaya de Silva at slip, which seemed to indicate there would be no problem completing the second over. Dickwella then disturbed the stumps.

The umpires later checked whether Sri Lanka had made a valid appeal before confirming Jaiswal’s dismissal.

Jaiswal was eventually dismissed for 32 off 37 balls, having hit five fours.

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, who was in the commentary box, was stunned by the mix-up. He felt there was a race to the show but believes Jaiswal lost his way in the confusion.

“I think it was a run. Rahul will meet his end very comfortably; it’s just that Jaiswal seemed lost in his own world,” he said.

Earlier, India won the toss and chose to bat first against Sri Lanka in their first appearance at the field since 2017. It is also India’s first tour of Sri Lanka for a red-ball series in nearly a decade.