Jaiswal-Fernando heated altercation headlined the first day's pay in Colombo Test.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Asitha Fernando were involved in a heated on-field altercation on Day 1 of the second Test between India and Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Colombo.
Fernando cleaned up Jaiswal for 45 runs in the 17th over of India’s first innings right after the southpaw had cracked three boundaries earlier in that over.
Following the breakthrough, Fernando gave Jaiswal an aggressive send-off, leading to a tense face-off between the pacer and the departing batter. The two players got aggressively close where their heads/helmets briefly clashed, before teammates and match officials intervened to defuse the situation.
Speaking on Sony Sports, former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja weighed in on the confrontation, opining that Jaiswal had crossed the line.
“It is dangerous territory. There is no doubt about that. Physical contact is a different thing,” Jadeja said.
Jadeja also brought up the incident from the first Test in Galle, where Jaiswal had engaged in a banter with Niroshan Dickwella. He stated that if a player is willing to dish out banter, he must also be prepared to take it.
“The same thing happened, but if someone cannot laugh at himself, he shouldn’t laugh at others. If you can’t take it back, don’t say it to others either while standing on the ground,” Jadeja added.
Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad, who was also part of the discussion panel, echoed similar views and cited that Jaiswal should have simply walked away.
“The referee will definitely look into it. I feel Yashasvi Jaiswal took it too far. He should have just walked,” Prasad stated.
“It happens sometimes when you are playing well and get out to a good ball. Also, Jaiswal needed a big innings. Having said that, they might have exchanged a couple of words when he got bowled, but as Jadeja said, he shouldn’t have made it physical, and it looks like Jaiswal took that incident way too far,” he further remarked.
Coming to the match, Devdutt Padikkal starred with yet another Test century on Sri Lankan soil as India capped off Day 1 with a score of 300/5 in Colombo. Skipper Shubman Gill chipped in with a fifty (50), while Ravindra Jadeja contributed 43.
For the hosts, Asitha Fernando was the pick of the bowlers, returning with figures of 3 for 46.