On a day when a Test match went all the way to the final half an hour, a T20I gets completed with 15 balls to spare. Well, that's all we have from this match. A wash-out at Guwahati, a one-sided encounter here in Indore and the teams travel further westwards to Pune for the final T20I. What's that going to offer? Join us on Friday to find out. Until then, I'm Abhinand Raghavendran - a fan of five-day Tests - bidding goodbye on behalf of Pradeep Krishnamurthy, Raju Peethala and Naga. Good night!
Navdeep Saini | Player of the Match: I practised well and I was confident. It's important to be confident and it's also important to use the variations. I was more happy to take a wicket with the yorker (wicket of Danushka Gunathilaka). I am gaining confidence with both white-ball and red-ball. When I made my T20I debut, I wanted to bowl fast, but now I know the importance of the slower deliveries.?
Kohli (2/2): It (spinners selection) was purely based on the number of left-handers they (Sri Lanka) have. Kuldeep takes the ball away so does Washington. It's all about match-ups. If there are more right-handers, Jadeja and Chahal become more lethal. As a captain, you need more than five bowlers in T20 cricket. Beautiful surface, we bowled really well, we pulled things back really well. Regular wickets was the key. As a bowler, no one likes bowling here. You want to see guys stepping up, playing under pressure, trying to finish games. I want to play at three and four to figure out both positions and at the same time give a chance for the youngsters as well.
Virat Kohli | India captain (1/2): Very happy. It was a clinical performance, something we wanted to do as a team. We have gone from strength to strength from the last series. Even though we didn't have Rohit, we had a convincing win, which is a very good sign for the team. Navdeep has come into the ODI circuit as well, he is gaining more confidence in T20 cricket. You can really see him letting himself go. When he does that, he can clock those speeds which he did. It's great to see him getting people out with yorkers and bouncers and with pace. It's a really good sign for the team. Really pleased to have Jasprit back in the side. He's bowling with pace again. You'll have to figure out who are the people that are very similar in their bowling skills, and you pick the senior one. I think one guy will be a surprise package going to Australia, someone who can bowl with pace and has bounce. Prasidh Krishna has done well in the domestic arena as well. This group of bowlers, it is a great luxury to have in all formats. Looking at the big World Cup, we have enough options.
Lasith Malinga | Sri Lanka captain: We were around 25-30 runs short. We tried to bowl consistent lines and lengths. The bowlers did well to drag the match till the 18th over. He's (Udana) our main bowler and is very experienced in this format. He got injured just before we went out to bowl. He's recovering now. We need to give opportunities to the youngsters.
KL Rahul: It was a smaller target and my plans were simple?which is to spend some time in the middle. Our bowlers bowled really well and anything around 170 on this wicket would have been par. A lot of credit must go to the bowlers. I've just been getting runs and the reading of the game has gotten a lot better and knowing how to build my innings again. I felt that was lacking and I always knew I had the game to get runs and it was just a matter of spending time in the middle, really happy to carry on the same way. We all go out there?with?a simple?plan which is to win the game for your country, he (Rohit) makes it look so easy and I've always batted with Shikhar especially at the start of my Test career and we understand each other well and I just enjoy batting with both?of them.
22:10 IST, 16:40 GMT: Clinical win for the Indians. Everything went right for the hosts right from the toss. On a belter, they opted to field and the bowlers constantly picked wickets to restrict the Lankans to an average score. Kohli had to employ just five bowlers and everyone contributed. In reply, the competitors (to become Rohit's opening partner) got India off to a brisk start and wiped off close to 50 percent of the target in nine overs. Wanindu Hasaranga scalped both the openers within a span of two overs. Post that, there were a few quiet overs, but that hardly flustered the Indians. Hasaranga ended up conceding 17 off his final over and then in the very next over, Malinga leaked 16. Shreyas Iyer went for the glory shot and fell, but that only resulted in the Indian skipper capping off the match in style. Overall, India comprehensively out-batted and out-bowled Sri Lanka in this match. Hang around for the presentations.
Lahiru Kumara to Kohli, SIX, a Kohli-cious shot! A shortish ball at 147.4kph and the Indian captain has deposited with disdain. He uses the pace to his advantage. Gets inside the line and pulls it powerfully over long leg with one leg off the ground. Yes, it's the Nataraja-pull shot and India win by 7 wickets
Lahiru Kumara to Pant, 1 run, 147.4kph, short ball, doesn't rise much and Pant pulls it to deep mid-wicket
Rishabh Pant, left handed bat, comes to the crease
Lahiru Kumara to Shreyas Iyer, out Caught by Shanaka!! Shreyas Iyer goes for the glory shot and perishes. Banged in short by Kumara, extra pace and it zipped off the pitch. Shreyas walks across to pull and doesn't get the required elevation. Shanaka doesn't err at deep backward square leg. Shreyas Iyer c Shanaka b Lahiru Kumara 34(26) [4s-3 6s-1]
Lahiru Kumara to Shreyas Iyer, THATS OUT!! Caught!!
Lahiru Kumara [3.0-0-23-0] is back into the attack
Malinga to Shreyas Iyer, 1 run, 16 runs off the over! Shreyas Iyer is happy to just nudge this slower ball towards mid-wicket and keep the strike
Malinga to Kohli, 1 run, 135.6kph, very full on leg, flicked to deep mid-wicket. 1000 T20I runs as captain for Kohli and also the fifty partnership
Malinga to Kohli, 2 runs, full around off, Kohli uses his bottom hand to whip it to deep mid-wicket
Malinga to Kohli, SIX, Kohli is toying with Malinga. It was head-high bouncer at decent pace, but Kohli is well-equipped to send it away. Slightly ducks and pulls it to send it over long leg
Bibhu Prasad Raiguru says: Dhawan-Rohit? Rohit-Rahul, Rahul-Dhawan? India having problem of plenty!
Malinga to Kohli, 2 runs, that made a cracking sound! Short ball at 130.4kph, Kohli middles the pull, Dhanushka runs to his left and puts in a dive to save two runs. Good effort
Malinga to Kohli, FOUR, 106.4kph, slower ball on leg, Kohli stays inside edge the line and helps it on its way to the fine leg fence with a half-pull shot. Easily done