Watch: Matheesha Pathirana knocks over Hardik Pandya with stunning 151kmph yorker in 1st T20I

Hardik Pandya, on Saturday (July 27), failed to get going with the bat in the ongoing first T20I between India and Sri Lanka at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

All eyes were on the star allrounder as he came out to bat in the game. It was his first outing for Team India after the selectors and the team management picked Suryakumar Yadav ahead of him as the new T20I captain. Hardik Pandya was the vice-captain of the team during the T20 World Cup and had an impressive campaign with both bat and ball.

Unsurprisingly, he was widely expected to become the new captain after Rohit Sharma's retirement from the shortest format of the game. However, the selectors decided to replace Rohit with Suryakumar.

Hardik Pandya had a point to prove in the first T20I against Sri Lanka when he walked out to bat. India were on 150 for 3 in the 14th over when the allrounder joined Rishabh Pant in the middle. The stage was perfectly set up for him to end the innings strongly for the team but he failed to deliver and departed after scoring 9 runs off 10 balls.

Matheesha Pathirana ended the India star's stay at the crease with a stunning yorker at 151 kmph and dashed his hopes of playing a good knock. On the third ball of the 17th over, Pandya backed away in order to make room for himself.

However, the Sri Lankan pacer smartly followed him and delivered the ball right in the blockhole. The ball hit Pandya's pad before crashing into the stumps.

Watch as Matheesha Pathirana castles Hardik Pandya:

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Meanwhile, India have posted a big total of 213/7 in the allotted 20 overs after being asked to bat first. Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal gave the visitors a flying start by sharing a 74-run stand for the first wicket before departing on consecutive deliveries. Gill scored 34 while Jaiswal scored 40.

Suryakumar then played a captain's knock, smashing 58 runs from just 26 balls to put India on the front foot. Rishabh Pant also played a crucial 49-run knock as India posted the big total.