Former Indian player and the current mentor of the Lucknow Supergiants Gautam Gambhir has heaped praises on Dasun Shanaka, the Sri Lankan skipper, after his match-winning performance in the 2nd T20 match against India. Gambhir said that if the IPL 2023 auctions were to take place after this series, many IPL franchises would have gone all out for Dasun Shanaka. In short, Gambhir believes that Shanaka would have been one of the hottest picks of the IPL 2023 auction if the T20I series was conducted before the auction.
During a post-match program with Star Sports, Gambhir said that even if he could pick Shanaka for LSG, he would not have had the money because he would have been that expensive. It is important to note that Dasun Shanaka went unsold among many other premier players in the recently-concluded IPL auctions.
The Sri Lankan skipper, it seems, is trying to purge his frustration with the IPL franchises with the help of his blistering knocks and captaincy in the previous two T20Is. Shanaka’s all-round performance helped Sri Lanka defeat India in the 2nd T20I at Pune.
Shanaka has amassed 101 runs in the 2 T20Is played so far in this series. He has an incredible strike rate of 206.12. He has also picked up 2 wickets so far in this series.
Sri Lanka will face India in the 3rd T20I at Rajkot on January 07. The series is currently leveled at 1-1 and the winner of this match will take the series.