"Dasun Shanaka deserves IPL contract" - Fans react as Sri Lanka captain scores an unbeaten 108 off 88 balls in IND vs SL 1st ODI

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka led from the front in the first ODI against Team India at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday, January 10. He scored an unbeaten 108 off 88 balls, including three sixes and 12 boundaries, even though it came in a losing cause.

The right-hander came in to bat when Sri Lanka were struggling at 136/4 in the 25th over. He stayed in the middle till the 50th over as wickets continued to fall on the other end. Sri Lanka, though, fell short by 67 runs to go down 0-1 in the three-match series.

Shanaka’s inning prompted netizens to question why he went unsold at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 auction last month despite having a base price of only ₹50 lakhs.

An user on Twitter even felt that the all-rounder should lead Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) ahead of Mayank Agarwal and Aiden Markram in the upcoming IPL season.

Interestingly, SRH have bought all eight overseas players like nine other teams. Only Punjab Kings (PBKS) have one spot vacant for one foreign player with ₹12.4 crore in their purse.

Here are some of the best Twitter reactions:

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Dasun Shanaka’s century goes in vain as Team India take 1-0 ahead in the series

Virat Kohli’s 45th ODI century outshined Dasun Shanaka’s hundred as India began their ODI home season with a win. Kohli smashed 113 off 87 balls, including a maximum and 12 boundaries.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma and young opener Shubman Gill also contributed 83 and 70 runs, respectively. The duo set the tone for India to score big as the hosts posted 373/7 in their allotted 50 overs.

Kasun Rajitha was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka. He picked up three wickets but conceded 88 runs in his 10 overs. Meanwhile, Dilshan Madhushanka, Chamika Karunaratne, Dasun Shanaka and Dhananjaya de Silva took one wicket apiece.

In response, Sri Lanka lost early wickets, but Pathum Nissanka (72), Dhanajaya de Silva (47) and Shanaka helped the visitors cross the 300-run mark.

Umran Malik was India's best bowler, with figures of 3/57. Mohammed Siraj also bagged two wickets, while Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal picked up one wicket each.

The two teams will next lock horns at the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on Thursday, January 12.