Watch: Mickey Arthur And Dasun Shanaka Involved In Heated Exchange After Sri Lanka vs India 2nd ODI

Sri Lanka head coach Mickey Arthur and captain Dasun Shanaka were involved in a heated, animated discussion post their loss to India at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday evening in the second ODI. The visitors have now taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ODI series with one game to go.

India chased down the target of 276 with 3 wickets in hand and 5 balls to spare. Sri Lanka, however, at one point had India on the mat at the score of 193-7. But, the pace-bowling duo of Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar forged an 84-run unbeaten stand to take India over the line.

Mickey Arthur, who was already seen frustrated during the game when Kumar and Chahar were slowly taking India to the finish line, let loose on the newly-appointed skipper, Dasun Shanaka, after the game. Both the principal figures of Sri Lankan cricket were seen having an altercation about something that had transpired on the field that Arthur didn’t like.

Watch: Mickey Arthur and Dasun Shanaka have a heated exchange post the loss to India

https://twitter.com/cric12222/status/1417562676998205440

Arthur could have been unhappy perhaps about holding back Dushmantha Chameera and Wanindu Hasaranga for later overs instead of going for the kill when Kumar and Chahar were new to the crease.

Nonetheless, this incident isn’t really a bit surprising considering the state of Sri Lankan cricket, both on and off the field. Former player Russel Arnold opined that such a discussion should have happened in the dressing room and not on the field with multiple cameras ready to capture such scenes.

“That conversation between Coach and captain should not have happened on the field but in the dressing room,” Arnold tweeted.

That conversation between Coach and captain should not have happened on the field but in the dressing room ?

— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) July 20, 2021

Credit to the Indians and especially Deepak: Dasun Shanaka

Post the match, Dasun Shanaka, while crediting the Indian team’s efforts, especially that of Deepak Chahar, lamented Sri Lanka’s batting in the middle-overs where the hosts lost a series of wickets despite having a good opening partnership. But, he remains proud of the team for putting up a better performance than the first ODI.

“I am really proud with the ways the boys played today. It was a really tough game. Credit to the Indians and especially Deepak, who took the game away from us. We started well again but lost several wickets in the middle overs. We shouldn’t give them easy wickets and we need to bat better till the batting powerplay,” Dasun Shanaka said after the loss. 

The third ODI is scheduled for Friday at the same venue. While Sri Lanka have lost the series, they still have World Cup Super League points to play for, on which they languish on the 12th position at the moment with just one win in 11 games.

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