Sri Lanka’s batting collapse on a regular basis, right through the ongoing tour, has enabled India to register victories. The time when the Sri Lankans showed a good fight with the bat, India couldn’t win.
Yes, the Indians didn’t lose either. But in the first of the three ODIs at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday, Team India ended on a tie in what should have been an easy win for them against the Sri Lankans, given the modest target (231) they had to chase down and the illustrious names in their batting line-up.
True, the Premadasa pitch aided spinners and wasn’t easy to bat on. But, if captain Rohit Sharma (58 off 47 balls) could play such a knock, other batsmen could have at least nudged the ball around for ones and twos as the required run rate then had come down to just above four runs an over, thanks to the skipper’s strokeplay.
The forecast of rain aside, the slow Premadasa surface for Sunday’s second ODI will again be assisting the spinners pretty much, though Sri Lanka suffered a blow in the form of a left-hamstring injury to their senior spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who's out of the remaining ODIs.
The Indian batters’ task could still be tough against the likes of Dunith Wellalage and Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka. But this is the time for the likes of Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer to step up, especially when they are well set.
In between the ongoing series and the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, India have just three ODIs lined up (against England at home early next year). So, the batters do need to cash in on these matches, particularly Kohli, who has retired from T20Is along with Rohit.
Needing another 128 to reach the milestone of 14,000 ODI runs, Kohli still has two more games in this series to come up with big scores. But Friday’s contest once again showed his weakness when spinners get it right on helpful tracks. Sri Lanka seem to have found that out, so it won’t be too easy for Kohli.
India though have the scope of bringing in Rishabh Pant to take on the Sri Lankan spinners. Riyan Parag, too, is another option, considering he can also bowl a bit.
