India vs Sri Lanka 2021: The Penultimate Over Turned The Course Of The Match, Feels Ramiz Raja

Former Pakistan batsman Ramiz Raja has opined that the penultimate over from Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the second T20 international against Sri Lanka cost India the game. India could manage just 132 on the board with just 5 batsmen available as most of the regulars had to be isolated.

Sri Lanka couldn’t cruise to the total as India bowled really well and managed to take the game deep with regular wickets. The series is well poised at 1-1 at the moment for a grand finish with the third T20 international coming up today.

Ramiz Raja Explains Where India Had Lost The Game

Ramiz Raja explained the six in the penultimate over off the bowling off Bhuvneshwar Kumar was a costly one and titled the game in favour of Sri Lanka. He stated that even the best in the business could falter at times and lauded India for the brilliant bowling performance despite not ending up on the winning side.

“The penultimate over bowled by Bhuvi (Bhuveshwar Kumar), in which he was hit for a six, turned the course of the match. It happens, sometimes even experienced hands are unable to deliver. Overall though India put up a very good fight.

“Bowling was not an issue for Team India, it was the batting that had major problems. That was because they had only five batters available because of COVID,” Ramiz Raja told.

Ramiz Raja Feels The Indian Batsmen Never Got into Any Sort Of Rhythm

Ramiz Raja mentioned that it was tough work for India with just five batsmen in the line-up and revealed how India struggled to break the shackles while batting. He added the total wasn’t enough on the pitch despite it offering a lot of turn and was critical about India’s fielding efforts which weren’t up to the mark.

“They had to maintain the pace as well while keeping wickets in hand, that too on a difficult surface. Team India never got into any sort of rhythm because of all those issues. And so, despite having wickets in hand, India couldn’t crack the whip and did not score as many runs as they should have. Still, they managed a fighting score. If they had fielded better, they could have created even more pressure on Sri Lanka,” he added.