3 min readAug 25, 2026 02:48 PM IST
The ongoing second India vs Sri Lanka Test in Colombo saw ugly scenes after India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal bumped heads with Sri Lanka’s Asitha Fernando when he was dismissed by the pacer during India’s first innings. Former India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has termed the incident unacceptable and spoken about how the contact could have been avoided.
The incident happened on the opening day of the Test, when Jaiswal, who made 45 in the first innings, was given a send-off by Fernando and the Indian opener then walked up to the pacer and bumped heads with him. Jaiswal’s helmet touched Fernando’s forehead before players from both the teams intervened to pull the players apart. Both Jaiswal and Fernando were fined 25 per cent of their match fee apart from being handed a demerit point each by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday.
“It’s not an ideal visual. As a player, you need to control your emotions. Sometimes you do get angry. I can understand that till the time he was disappointed, or he was when he was having a chat, at that time. I think that’s acceptable till then. It is all fine, but the moment it got to a point where both of them were going against each other, there was body contact, which is not acceptable on the field,” Pujara said on Sony Sports Network.
In the last nine innings including Sunday’s knock, Jaiswal has failed to score a hundred and has only scored one half-century.
Former Indian cricketer WV Raman believes Jaiswal’s frustration over the dismissal could be due to his lack of big scores in recent innings.
“There’s always a little bit of exchange of words on a cricket field. It happens, and especially after a wicket falls, but restraint is so important because if you don’t restrain yourself, you’re going to get in trouble, and there’s always that line that you can’t cross. He got out when he was shaping really well in the first Test. You don’t normally get run out like that in a Test match, and here once again, he was set, and he gets out to a delivery, which he could have played forward. He knows that he’s letting go of opportunities. So the little bit of frustration is coming out,” said Raman on Sony Sports Network.
Former Indian wicket-keeper Saba Karim too shared his views on the incident and shared how such incidents are unnecessary in a sport like cricket.
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“Someone should remind both of them that this is not a contact sport. It is cricket. You’re not supposed to headbutt each other, but I find it extremely puerile. There’s no need for something like this on a cricket field. There’ll be times when a pace bowler or a bowler will get after you. One can always remain aggressive without getting into an act like this. I think it is unnecessary, and one should always remember that all such players are brand ambassadors of this lovely sport. So many youngsters are watching it,” Karim said on Sony Sports Network.
