SL vs IND 2024: Mohammed Siraj engages in heated verbal argument with Kusal Mendis

India pacer Mohammed Siraj lost his calm as he had a heated verbal argument with Kusal Mendis in the third ODI of the series in Colombo. The incident took place in the third ball of the 39th over of the match after the keeper-batter defended Siraj’s delivery. Right after that, the 30-year-old charged towards the batter, who was not shy to reply. However, Siraj was not interested in it and turned his back to walk away.

Notably, Siraj leaked 78 runs in his nine overs in the third ODI. With Arshdeep Singh being benched, the Hyderabad-born pacer partnered with Shivam Dube, and was leading the pace unit but failed to deliver. Dube, meanwhile had a good outing with the ball, as he gave away just nine runs in his four overs. Siraj, on the other hand, leaked plenty of runs as Sri Lanka posted 248 runs in the first innings.

Watch the video below: 

With India trailing 1-0 in the series, the third ODI is a must-win affair for the Rohit Sharma-led side. Sri Lanka openers had a great start to the match as Pathum Nissanka made 45 while Avishka Fernando scored 96 runs. Batting at number three, Mendis too had a good outing, scoring 59 runs. The top three set the tone for the hosts but the middle order failed to deliver. Otherwise, they could have easily crossed the 250-run barrier.

India have a daunting task on their hands as chasing so many runs won’t be an easy task. Rohit has had an amazing time with the bat but others failed to deliver. India brought in an extra batter in the form of Riyan Parag and it needs to be seen if the move works. Rishabh Pant too replaced KL Rahul, who can prove to be key. He is a good player of spin and will have a key role in the bat. The focus will be on Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer as well, as they haven’t contributed much with the bat in the series.