Watch: Shami removes bails at his end to runout Shanaka on 98 but Rohit withdraws appeal

Veteran Indian pacer Mohammed Shami has become the talk of the town for the cricketing world after his runout attempt at the non-striker’s end, in the final over of the 1st ODI against Sri Lanka. The incident took place in the final over of Sri Lanka’s run chase when the Lankan captain was not-out on 98 runs. Bowling the fourth ball of the 50th over, Shami managed to run out Shanaka at the non-striker’s end after the latter had backed up too far prior to the delivery being bowled.

As the umpire went upstairs for the review, Team India captain Rohit Sharma quickly stepped in, had a few words with the bowler and decided to withdraw the appeal. Shanaka received a much-needed lifeline in the dramatic final over and later completed his century. He remained unbeaten on the score of 108 runs off 88 balls, after scoring 13 runs in the 50th over itself.

"We got to give it to him. We cannot get him out like that"

Meanwhile, speaking at the post-match presentation, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma shed his thoughts on the run-out attempt by Shami. Speaking to Murali Kartik, Rohit said, “I had no idea Shami had done that. When he went up in an appeal. Again, he (Shanaka) is batting on 98. The way he batted was brilliant. We got to give it to him. We cannot get him out like that. We wanted to get him out the way we thought we would get him out. But that was not something that we thought of. But again, hats off to him, he played really well”.

India beat Sri Lanka by 67 runs despite Dasun Shanaka's century

Shanaka’s century went into vain on Tuesday as Sri Lanka fell 67 runs short of the target set by Team India. Earlier in the first innings of the match, the Indian batting lineup came together to notch up a massive total of 373 runs at the loss of seven wickets. While Indian openers Rohit and Shubman Gill hit 83 and 70 runs respectively, Virat Kohli’s knock in Guwahati was the biggest highlight of the 1st ODI.

The 34-year-old scored 113 runs off 87 balls with 12 fours and one six at a strike rate of 129.89. This was his second straight century in ODIs, as he earlier hit a hundred against Bangladesh in December. This was also his 73rd international and 45th ODI century.