The onus will be on Indian batters, particularly the talismanic Virat Kohli, to follow the path laid down by skipper Rohit Sharma and tactfully counter the spin challenge in the third and final ODI in Colombo on Wednesday to avoid their first series defeat to Sri Lanka in 27 years.
It’s certainly not the start Gautam Gambhir, a stickler for victories, would want in his first ODI assignment as the team’s head coach.
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India’s previous bilateral ODI series defeat against the Islanders came in 1997. The Arjuna Ranatunga-led Lankans then inflicted a 0-3 hammering on Sachin Tendulkar and his men.
Since then, India and Sri Lanka have played 11 bilateral ODI rubbers home and away, with the ‘Men in Blue’ emerging on the right side of the result in all of them.
India will not be able to win the current three-match series after succumbing to the hosts by 32 runs in the second ODI, and conceding a tie in the first game.
This position of discomfort is brought upon the team by the batsmen, who seemed to have been plagued by indecisiveness on a RPSC pitch that offered plenty of turn to the spinners.
Curiously, none reflected that brittleness more than star batter Kohli. He has made 38 runs in two matches, but more than the volume of runs, the manner of his dismissals evoked greater concern.
Kohli looked subdued in the middle, particularly after the fiery starts given by Rohit. Kohli just needed to build on it.
But the master batter in him remained dormant as he pottered around the leg-spin of Wanindu Hasaranga in the first match and of six-wicket man Jeffrey Vandersay in the next, before eventually getting consumed by them.
He looked a far cry from the dominant batsman who once cracked four hundreds at this very same venue. Perhaps, Kohli should direct his mind to happier times than allowing it to be fettered by the demons of the present.
A flowing Kohli is imperative for India’s healthy run in the middle overs, be it while chasing or setting a target.
But then his turmoil is a true reflection of the struggle that has gripped the Indian batting unit.
In Shivam Dube, India have a designated spin-basher, but the left-hander could not even pick a regulation leg-break by Vandersay in the second one-dayer, getting trapped in front of the wicket.
Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul too have lorded over spinners in the past, but here their feet and wrists have been unresponsive against the Lankan slow bowlers.
They seemed to be going through a temporary memory loss as to how to rotate strike, the most effective weapon to keep spinners in check on tracks such as the ones at the Premadasa.
They just need to watch the batting of Rohit to find a remedy – not so much in his approach but more in the confidence and planning behind his knocks.
There is no need to gild the lily while describing Rohit’s batting, still his taming of the Lankan bowlers – pace and spin alike – has been exceptional.
Often a 44-ball 64 would contain a few chancy shots, but Rohit’s strokes were so well-calculated that they hardly appeared risky. Can his colleagues take a cue?
Parag to get the call?
From a combination perspective, the team management might look at the position of Dube, despite a 24-ball 25 in the first match.
Under the existing conditions, Riyan Parag’s spin, either off-spin or leg-spin, might come handier than the honest medium pace of Dube, and the former is an equally good hard-hitter.
From their part, the Indian bowlers too should improve their effort in the business end as they failed to apply finishing touches to Lanka after reducing them to 142 for six and 136 for six.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Ꮪhubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.
Sri Lanka: Charith Asalanka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kamindu Mendis, Janith Liyanage, Nishan Madushka, Dunith Wellalage, Chamika Karunaratne, Akila Dananjaya, Mohamed Shiraz, Maheesh Theekshana, Asitha Fernando, Eshan Malinga, Jeffrey Vandersay.
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