Overview
- During the first ODI in Vadodara, KL Rahul advised Washington Sundar in Hindi to slow his pace through the air, triggering a live commentary dispute.
- Varun Aaron suggested Sundar’s Hindi may be limited and said Rahul could speak to him in Tamil given the bowler’s Chennai roots.
- Sanjay Bangar replied that he believes in Hindi as the national language, a statement that drew immediate social media backlash noting India has no national language.
- Presenter Jatin Sapru moved to defuse the exchange as short broadcast clips spread widely online, with reports differing on whether it happened in the 11th, 12th, or 13th over.
- In the match context, New Zealand posted 300 with half-centuries from Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, and Daryl Mitchell, while Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, and Prasidh Krishna took two wickets each for India.