Pathan brothers rocked the boat, Yusuf hit 56 off 22 balls and Irfan demolished Sri Lanka's top-order

The legends of the game rewrote history in the opening season of the International Masters League 2025 (IML 2025) with repeated vintage shots, passionate spells, and match-winning moments. India Masters began their season with a bang as they defeated Sri Lanka Masters by four wickets in a hard-fought match at the DY Patil Stadium on Saturday. The match began with batting great Sachin Tendulkar being invited to the crease by Kumar Sangakkara. Sachin set the tone with two fours. Later, scintillating fifties by Stuart Binny and Yusuf Pathan combined with superb performances from Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Yuvraj Singh saw the hosts put up 224 runs.

Opening the batting with Ambati Rayudu, Sachin struck two fours in the opening over of Isuru Udana before falling. Then, Stuart Binny and Gurkeerat Singh Mann troubled the Sri Lankan bowlers with their 87-run third-wicket alliance and set the stage for the match. Binny smashed 68 from 31 balls with the support of seven huge sixes and three fours, while Mann reached just six runs from his half-century but his seven fours from 32 balls took the team past 113 in the 12th over. After his fall, Yuvraj Singh joined Binny and added 33.

Yuvraj was back in form as he smashed two sixes and fours on his way to an unbeaten 31 off 22 balls. Yusuf Pathan then outshone his partner with his brilliant power-hitting. Given his range of shots, it never felt like Yusuf had retired from cricket as the right-hander from Baroda smashed six majestic sixes and three fours on his way to an unbeaten 56 off 22 balls to take India to a mammoth total. Suranga Lakmal picked up two wickets for Sri Lanka Masters.

In reply, skipper Sangakkara led Sri Lanka Masters with a brilliant and powerful innings of 51 off 30 balls and most importantly laid the platform with a 61-run partnership for the second wicket with Lahiru Thirimane, who scored 24 off 17 balls. However, the arrival of Irfan Pathan changed the course of the game in just a few overs as the left-arm pacer took the wickets of Sangakkara and Chaturanga de Silva on three consecutive balls to put the game on the line.

Despite the setbacks, Asela Gunaratne (37 off 25 balls) and Jeevan Mendis (42 off 17 balls) put the visitors on the winning track with a 68-run stand for the sixth wicket but Dhawal Kulkarni broke the partnership to give some relief to the Indian dugout. Isuru Udana scored 23 runs off 7 balls, including a six off the first ball, to increase the visitors' chances of victory but Vinay Kumar's slow delivery brought smiles on the faces of the spectators. The intensity of the match can be gauged from the fact that Sri Lanka needed 9 runs off the last six balls but Abhimanyu Mithun kept his composure and took two wickets for five runs to script India's victory.

Brief scores: India Masters 222/4 (Stuart Binny 68, Yusuf Pathan 56 not out, Gurkeerat Singh Mann 44, Yuvraj Singh 31 not out; Suranga Lakmal 2-34) beat Sri Lanka Masters 218/9 (Kumar Sangakkara 51, Jeevan Mendis 42, Asela Gunaratne 37; Irfan Pathan 3/39, Dhawal Kulkarni 2/34, Abhimanyu Mithun 2-41) by four runs.