Twitter Reactions: India skittle for 112, MS Dhoni hits 65

India skittled out for 112 in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Dharamshala after the visitors came out firing with the ball. Thisara Perera won the vital toss and sent India in to bat under swinging conditions. There was a bit of moisture in the wicket and the Indian batsmen were involved in yet another infamous collapse. Suranga Lakmal led the Lankan attack with figures of 4/13.

Lakmal removed skipper Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Manish Pandey and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Only three batsmen managed to get into double digits and it was MS Dhoni who conducted the rescue act for the Indians. He scored a valuable 87-ball 65 and went past the 16000-run mark in the process. Dhoni took his time and consumed the threatening deliveries before shifting his gear and whacking the white ball once the tail was exposed.

Spinner Kuldeep Yadav (19) supported the former Indian skipper and the two forged a stand of 41 runs from the eighth wicket. Veteran Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews scalped a wicket while Perera, Akila Dhananjaya and S Pathirana shared three wickets among them.  India were restricted to 29/7 at one stage but some sensible batting from MSD helped India go past the 100-run mark.

Captain under pressure

Rohit Sharma, who is currently leading the Indian side in the absence of Virat Kohli, will look to get some early wickets. He had earlier said that leading the national team is a different ball game and he will have to get his thinking cap on and avoid a defeat here.

“I think it [leading India] will be a different ball game altogether,” Rohit said. “But the process and the basics of captaincy leading any team will remain the same. These are [a] different set of players to the ones I had in the IPL – this is completely different. But, having played with these guys for quite some time now, I do understand their strengths and weaknesses. So it will be all about going there and executing and making everyone comfortable.” Rohit said ahead of the 1st ODI.

Let’s take a look at how the internet reacted to the action-packed Indian innings: