Cricket fans turned up in numbers to cheer for the Men in Blue. Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bowl first. The T20I opener between India and Sri Lanka didn’t get off to a good start at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium as rain played spoilsport which delayed the start of the match.
While the ground staff worked really hard to make the ground dry and to speed up the process to provide a quick start, Guwahati crowd lit up the atmosphere by singing the national song of India – ‘Vande Mataram’.
The fans took their mobile phones and turned on the flashlights to make the environment even more captivating and sung ‘Vande Mataram’ in full voice. The official Twitter handle of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took to social media platform to share a goosebumps video from the ground as they captioned it: “Guwahati, you beauty #INDvSL”
When asked why he opted to bowl first, Virat Kohli said that the dew factor is the reason being bowling first. Kohli echoed that Guwahati track plays a bit different in next half of the innings and it would easier to track down total after the pitch settles down in the first innings.
“We’re gonna bowl first. We haven’t played here in a while. The last time we played here, we chased well. The game we played prior to that against Australia, they chased well too. The track does play differently in the second half as compared to the first part. It’s a good thing actually, there isn’t too much of a difference in conditions, except that the track settles down better later on with the wet ball,” Virat Kohli said after winning the toss.
“Last year was outstanding for us in two formats, T20s not so much. Good thing though is that we have a World Cup coming up and we’ll be taking things more seriously. Pandey, Samson, Chahal and Jadeja aren’t playing. Kuldeep and Washington because of their left-handers and we have three seamers,” Virat Kohli added.