Shubman Gill came agonisingly close to scoring his first ODI Cricket World Cup century but was dismissed by Dilshan Madushanka during the Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and Sri Lanka on Thursday. Gill looked in tremendous touch as he took the Sri Lankan bowlers to the cleaners and ended up slamming 11 fours and two massive sixes. He was just eight runs away from a much-deserved ton when he edged a delivery straight to wicket-keeper Kusal Mendis behind the stumps. The crowd at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai was left stunned with Gill's dismissal and the reaction of Sara Tendulkar - the daughter of legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar - went viral on social media.
Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis won the toss and elected to field.
India, the only team yet to lose a match at this World Cup, are unchanged with captain Rohit Sharma happy to bat first on his Wankhede Stadium home ground, where South Africa piled up 399 after being sent in by struggling champions England earlier in the tournament.
"I would have batted first," said Rohit. "It's a good pitch...Under lights, it will be nice for our seamers to bowl.
"It's a great honour to captain India at the World Cup (on a ground) where I've grown up playing.
"As a team, we thrive on getting better. Obviously, it's important for us to not get carried away and it's important to stay balanced."
Sri Lanka made one change from the side that suffered a seven-wicket defeat against Afghanistan, with leg-spinner Dushan Hemantha in for Dhananjaya de Silva.
Mendis's men have lost four of their six games in the 10-team tournament.
"I think batting second is better than batting first. The players have done well in a couple of matches and are giving their best. It's a very important three games (coming up) for us," said Mendis.
Teams
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wkt), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis (capt/wkt), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dushan Hemantha, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka.
(With AFP inputs)