‘Yashasvi shouldn’t have gone so close, but it happens in the heat of the moment’
India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak played down the early incident on Day 1 of the Colombo Test, where Yashasvi Jaiswal and Asitha Fernando had a fiery exchange of words. The incident occured after Fernando had cleaned up Jaiswal in an over where the batter had hit three fours. Jaiswal began to walk off when Fernando […]
India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak downplayed an early clash between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Asitha Fernando during the first day of the Colombo Test. The incident occurred after Fernando dismissed Jaiswal, who then walked off while Fernando celebrated with teammates. Jaiswal turned around and confronted the bowler, sparking a near-head collision before Sri Lankan fielders intervened to diffuse the situation.
Kotak believed it was an "heat of the moment" incident, but also felt Jaiswal shouldn't have gone so close to the bowler in response. "I think the bowler commented something and it happened in the heat of moment. Obviously Yashasvi shouldn’t have gone so close to him but it happened in the heat of the moment," Kotak stated.
Sri Lanka's fast bowling coach Ryan van Niekerk echoed Kotak's sentiments, describing the incident as part of a hard day's cricket. He attributed it to an "overflow of emotions" and emphasized that Sri Lanka's bowlers needed to challenge India. Van Niekerk encouraged his team to stand up and create opportunities, stating that verbal exchanges were likely an "overflow of emotion."
The ICC match referee, Andy Pycroft, might view the incident differently, as the video evidence could lead to sanctions if inappropriate physical contact is observed.
Written by urgent.news from The Island Sri Lanka's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
