There is only one way of batting in T20 cricket - to bat aggressively. With changing times, every team is adopting this method and Team India has also started playing in this style in recent times. Fans just want to see fours and sixes so that they can be entertained continuously. However, this does not happen every time and many times the bowling is so good that boundaries do not come continuously. Something similar happened with Team India, which easily defeated Sri Lanka in the first 2 T20 matches and captured the series, but in the last match its batsmen failed so much that there was a huge drought of boundaries which continued for 33 balls continuously.

The last match of the India-Sri Lanka series in Pallekele started late due to rain and its effect was visible on the match. The pitch was already very spin friendly. Due to the damp outfield, hitting boundaries became even more difficult. Also, not only Sri Lanka's spinners, but also fast bowlers increased the problems of Team India by bowling on a tight line. The effect of this was that India lost its 5 wickets for just 48 runs.

33-ball drought

Now if a team loses wickets so quickly, then its run rate will also decrease. It was natural for this to happen with Team India as well. Still, in T20 cricket, it is expected that one or two boundaries will come in between, but Team India's batsmen, especially Shubman Gill and Shivam Dubey, failed to do so. There was a time in Team India's innings, when no boundary came in 33 consecutive balls. It started from the 5th over, when captain Suryakumar Yadav hit a four on the fifth ball. After this, no four or six could be hit till the second ball of the 11th over. During this, Surya got out and then Shivam Dubey, who came to the crease, could not do anything. Dubey got out in the 9th over, while Gill, who was at the other end, also failed in this task.

Riyan Parag ended the famine

Finally, on the third ball of the 11th over, Riyan Parag ended this drought of 33 balls by hitting a four off Ramesh Mendis and gave some relief to the fans along with the Indian score. After this, Gill also hit a four in the 13th over, while in the very next over, Riyan hit 2 sixes. In the end, Washington Sundar and Ravi Bishnoi also hit some boundaries and somehow took the team to a score of 137 runs. The quick dismissal of the top order batsmen and not getting a single boundary in 33 balls proved to be detrimental for the team.