SL vs IND: Minod Bhanuka predicts Sanju Samson's move, advises bowler just before his dismissal

Wicketkeepers get the best view of the cricket field. They have the closest view of the batsman and his footwork and can be heard in the stump mic advising the bowlers every now and then. One such incident took place in the ongoing third and final ODI of the series between India and Sri Lanka.

The wicketkeeper Minod Bhanuka has impressed so far with his batting in the series opening the innings with Avishka Fernando. However, he was on point with his keeping skills and the game awareness in the third ODI being played in Colombo.

He smartly plotted Sanju Samson’s dismissal in the 19th over of the innings predicting the batsman’s move and advising the bowler Praveen Jayawickrama accordingly. In the video that has gone viral, it could be seen that Minod advices something to the bowler in a local language (probably Sinhalese). And off the very next ball, Samson danced down the track to play an inside-out shot only to be caught at extra cover by Avishka.

It was a very smart from Minod Bhanuka who is having a decent series and will now be hoping to contribute more on the field before going out with the bat to chase.

Here’s the video:

India looking for whitewash

Meanwhile, India have batted well after winning the toss with Manish Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav in the middle. Rain interrupted the innings after 23 overs when the team had reached 147/3 and are looking really good to cross the 300-run mark. After Shikhar Dhawan’s early dismissal, Prithvi Shaw (49) and Sanju Samson (46) batted superbly but unfortunately missed their respective half-centuries.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have also looked determined with their bowling and fielding as they look to avoid the whitewash in the ODI series. The two teams are scheduled to play the three-match T20I series as well starting from July 25 after the ODIs. After fielding five debutants in the third ODI, India are expected to hand a few more T20I caps in the tussle in the shortest format.