IND vs SL: Hardik Pandya reacts as Sanju Samson drops Pathum Nissanka in 1st T20I - WATCH

Premier India batter Sanju Samson was in the thick of things in the 1st T20I at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday. The Kerala stalwart could manage to score only five runs and later dropped Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka in the match. 

The incident took place in the first over of the match as Samson dropped Nissanka for a duck on the second delivery. The opener caught a leading edge off Pandya which Samson tried to pocket with a diving effort. But as he fell on the ground the ball popped out of his grasp. 

Pandya, however, did not react much to the dropped effort but he looked dissapointed. 

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— Guess Karo (@KuchNahiUkhada) January 4, 2023

Sanju Samson dropped catch didn't cost India plenty 

The dropped catch, however, didn’t cost India much as Nissanka failed to take advantage of the lifeline and got dismissed in the next over at one run off three deliveries. The 24-year-old was outfoxed by rising India fast bowler Shivam Mavi on the fifth delivery of the second over.

Earlier in the game, Samson failed to show up with the bat too, scoring only five runs off six deliveries. After the early dismissals of Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav in the first powerplay, the wicketkeeper-batter arrived at the crease. For him, it was a perfect chance to prove his worth by delivering a fine knock for the team.

However, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain didn’t give himself time to settle and played a reckless shot on Dhananjay de Silva’s delivery to return to the pavilion. His poor shot selection even left the legendary Sunil Gavaskar also disappointed at the commentary box.

Meanwhile, some brilliant batting display from Deepak Hooda (41 runs off 23 balls) and Axar Patel (31 runs off 20 deliveries), helped the team post a competitive score of 162/5. 

Later, the hosts defended the target by a narrow margin, thaks to some courageous performances from the likes of Shivam Mavi, Umran Malik and Harshal Patel. 

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