Pathum Nissanka joins Sri Lankan greats in unwanted list after his golden duck in 2nd ODI vs India

Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka has joined an unwanted list after his golden duck in the second ODI against India. Nissanka became the third Sri Lanka batter to be dismissed on the first ball of an ODI against India. He joined the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga on this list.

Nissanka has been in brilliant form lately. He was highly impressive in the first ODI as well as the T20Is prior to this series. The opener scored a vital 56 off 75 balls in the first ODI. At a time when other Sri Lankan batters were struggling to occupy the crease, Nissanka stayed at one end. He smashed 9 fours during his knock.

In the T20I series, he was the highest run-getter across both the teams. The right-hander scored 137 runs in 3 T20Is at an average of 45.66 and a strike rate of 138.38. Although Sri Lanka lost the series 3-0, Nissanka emerged as the brightest spot for them.

Watch: Rohit Sharma angrily yells at Shivam Dube after his sloppy fielding effort in IND vs SL 2nd ODI

Pathum Nissanka joins an unwanted list after his golden duck in the 2nd ODI vs India

Nissanka was expected to be Sri Lanka's most important batter in the second ODI. His form has been impressive lately as he is the most consistent Sri Lankan batter at the moment.

But he was dismissed for a first-ball duck and he became the third Sri Lankan batter to be dismissed off the first ball of an ODI against India. Before Nissanka, great Sri Lankan batters like Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga were already on this list.

SL batter getting dismissed first ball of an ODI vs India:
S Jayasuriya 2002 (Zaheer Khan)
U Tharanga 2009 (Zaheer Khan)
U Tharanga 2010 (Praveen Kumar)
P Nissanka Colombo 2024 (Mohd Siraj)

Mohammed Siraj produces a beauty to dismiss Pathum Nissanka

Nissanka was dismissed for a golden duck in the match. Playing the first ball of the match is never easy and it proved to be right in this case. India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj bowled a beautiful ball on the fifth-stump channel.

It forced Nissanka to be drawn into the angle of the ball. As expected, the ball curved away late and took the outside edge, and carried low to the wicketkeeper KL Rahul, who pouched it safely by diving to his right.

While Jayasuriya was dismissed by India left-arm quick Zaheer Khan in the year 2002, Upul Tharanga was dismissed twice in the first ball of an ODI against India. Zaheer picked up the wicket of Tharanga in 2009 while Praveen Kumar achieved this feat by picking up the wicket of Tharanga in 2010.

With Pathum Nissanka joining this list, this was the fourth time a Sri Lankan batter has been dismissed off the first ball of an ODI against India.

Talking about the match, Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat again. The pitch is expected to be turning and the Indian batters will be in for a tough spin test again. The first ODI between these teams ended in a dramatic tie after Sri Lankan spinners showed their skills and courage.