Three Key Mistakes Behind India’s ODI Series Loss to Sri Lanka

India’s tour of Sri Lanka has ended on a disappointing note. After clinching the T20I series with pure dominance, Team India faced some unbelievable setbacks in the ODI series. Gautam Gambhir’s coaching era started with a T20I series win but immediately saw a devastating defeat in the 50-over format. Despite some of the superstars’ comebacks, the team failed to play a quality game and faced a defeat by a 2-0 margin. In this article, we will explore three key mistakes made by Team India in the recently ended ODI series against Sri Lanka. 

Devastating series loss by Team India:

After Rahul Dravid’s tenure ended, Gautam Gambhir took charge of the Indian team as the head coach. Under his guidance, Team India sealed the T20I series against Sri Lanka but saw an unbelievable defeat in the ODI format. After the T20I series, Team India witnessed some superstars’ comeback like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and Kuldeep Yadav. Despite having big names, they failed to win even a single match in the series. 

The first match was disappointing for both teams as it ended in a tie. Even if that ended in a tie, the host nation made an impact on the game. While facing a decent total, Team India failed. They struggled even in the second match. In that match, the bowlers performed decently but conceded runs and crucial points. But the batters failed to play any impactful innings. Especially the middle order broke down again. 

The most disappointing match for India was the third ODI. Since the beginning, the Indian bowlers were helpless in front of Sri Lanka’s opening duo. However, in the later part of the first innings, they made a little impact but the batters did a horrible job. The entire batting lineup shattered and faced a massive defeat of 110 runs. Now, we will explore three mistakes behind India’s failure in the ODI series.

The Struggle in Front of Sri Lanka’s Spin:

In this entire ODI series Team India’s struggle in front of the Sri Lankan spin department was clearly visible. Right from the first match, they faced setbacks playing against the spinners. Big names like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and many other batters struggled to play the spin deliveries. The way Sri Lankan batters handled Indian spin, the Indian batters failed to dominate the Sri Lankan spin attack. 

Most of the dismissal of the Indian players comes against the spinners. They failed to tackle the spinners and sacrificed their wickets. The Sri Lankan side used this weapon correctly by using Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, and Jeffrey Vandersay. Notably, Vandersay secured 6 wickets by just conceding 33 runs showcasing ultimate dominance.  

Consecutive Failures of the Indian Middle Order:

The second mistake of the Indian side which caught the attention was the failure of the Indian middle order. Even After the arrival of some big batting superstars, India’s middle order failed to make an impact in the series. In the entire series, only Rohit Sharma was the only consistent batter. Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and others failed to deliver their quality performance. Even the management shuffled the batting order too many times.

In most of the matches of this series, after the opening duo’s dismissal, the entire team was seen struggling in front of Sri Lanka’s bowling attack. Axar Patel and Washington Sundar added some crucial runs throughout the series. But Shivam Dube, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul’s failure cost those matches. In the third match, team management bought Rishabh Pant in Rahul’s place but he failed by being dismissed only in 6 runs. The middle order’s failure was one of the biggest reasons behind their defeat. 

Bowlers Failed to Make Impact:

Another major concern for the team was inconsistency in the bowling department. In the Colombo pitch, the Sri Lankan spinners created magic and the Indian side suffered at this place. There are some experienced and big names in the bowling department but they failed to impress. Whenever Sri Lanka batted, the Indian bowlers struggled to stop them and conceded too many runs at a crucial point. 

If we concentrate especially on this game, Sri Lanka’s opening partnership was worth 89 runs. The Indian bowlers failed to break that and made an impact on time. Team India’s bowling performance was inconsistent at many places and the bowlers failed to dominate the opponent side. They failed to create pressure on the Sri Lankan batters. That was another key mistake by them. 

The Champions Trophy is coming soon next year. The cricket-playing nations are preparing hard for the ICC event. Before that, India was scheduled to play only two ODI series against Sri Lanka and England. The series against Sri Lanka ended on a devastating note underlining plenty of mistakes. That is a wake-up call for the team and the players. They will play their only remaining ODI series against England next year. Before stepping into a series, they need to rectify those mistakes and return to their dominating form. 

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