The India vs Sri Lanka ODI series began with a runfest at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The home team won the toss and batted first. Although none of the Sri Lankan batsmen could play a big knock, the islanders finished with 262/9 in the first innings.
Chasing 263 runs to go 1-0 up in the India vs Sri Lanka ODI series, the Men in Blue got off to a dream start thanks to Prithvi Shaw’s quickfire 43. New captain Shikhar Dhawan played the anchor’s role to perfection by scoring 86 runs, while debutant Ishan Kishan registered his maiden ODI fifty. The visitors eventually won the India vs Sri Lanka series opener by seven wickets.
Several interesting stats emerged after the first ODI of the India vs Sri Lanka series. Here are the top five statistics.
5. Shikhar Dhawan became the fifth Indian opener to score 10,000 international runs
As mentioned earlier, Shikhar Dhawan played a mature innings of 86 runs in the first game of the India vs Sri Lanka series. During his knock, Dhawan breached the 10,000-run mark as an opener in the international arena.
Dhawan became the fifth opening batsman from India to accomplish the feat. The southpaw has joined Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Rohit Sharma in the elite group.
4. Ishan Kishan became the first Indian to score a half-century on ODI and T20I debut
Ishan Kishan started his international career in style with a half-century in a T20I against England earlier this year. The left-handed batsman began his ODI career the same way by hitting a fifty against Sri Lanka.
With this knock, Kishan became the only Indian to smash a 50+ score on both ODI and T20I debuts. Apart from him, only South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen has accomplished this unique feat.
3. Shikhar Dhawan became the oldest Indian to make ODI captaincy debut in India vs Sri Lanka series opener
The BCCI had to name a second-string squad for the Sri Lanka tour as most Indian players are in the United Kingdom right now. The selectors appointed Shikhar Dhawan as the second-string team’s captain.
When Dhawan came out for the toss with Dasun Shanaka in the first ODI of the India vs Sri Lanka series, he became the oldest Indian to make a captaincy debut in the 50-over format. Shikhar was 35 years and 225 days old on July 18, the day he played his first ODI as captain.
2. Sri Lanka achieved a bizarre record against India
As bizarre as it seems, Sri Lanka recorded the highest team total in ODI cricket history without a single 50+ score or a 50+ partnership. There were a couple of 49-run partnerships from the home team during the first India vs Sri Lanka ODI. Avishka Fernando had a 49-run opening stand with Minod Bhanuka.
Later in the innings, Charith Asalanka had a 49-run partnership with captain Dasun Shanaka for the fifth wicket. Meanwhile, the highest individual score in the Sri Lankan innings was 43 by Chamira Karunaratne. During the first ODI of the India vs Sri Lanka series, the islanders broke Australia’s 20-year-old record by scoring 262 runs without a 50+ stand or a 50+ score from a batsman.
1. Ishan Kishan became the first Indian to score a half-century while making ODI debut on his birthday
Ishan Kishan celebrated his 23rd birthday on Sunday. He received his maiden ODI cap on his special day, and the southpaw made it a memorable occasion by playing a match-winning knock for India.
Kishan scored 59 runs off 42 deliveries to become the first Indian batsman to score a half-century while making his ODI debut on his birthday. Before Kishan, Vinod Kambli, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sachin Tendulkar and Yusuf Pathan had scored an ODI fifty on their birthdays.