Rohit Sharma mentioned that India didn’t play smartly against spin bowling in the one-day international series against Sri Lanka. On August 7, the Indian team suffered a big loss of 110 runs in the third match at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. After being asked to chase a target of 249 runs, the Indian team was all out for 138 runs in 26.1 overs.
Rohit complimented Kusal Mendis and Avishka Fernando for effectively using the field by playing shots like sweeps, paddle sweeps, and reverse sweeps. Fernando’s 96 runs and Mendis’ 59 runs helped the Sri Lankan team. They also had a partnership of 82 runs for the second wicket. Because of their performance, Sri Lanka won the series 2-0.
“They played a lot of sweep shots and took their chances. There weren’t many runs scored straight down the pitch. They didn’t move their feet as much as we thought they would. It was mostly about using sweep shots and hitting towards the deep square leg and midwicket field. That’s something we didn’t do well as a batting team. We didn’t play enough sweep shots, reverse sweep shots, or paddle sweep shots, and we moved our feet too much. That was the main difference,” Rohit said after the game.
“If you look at Kusal Mendis and Avishka Fernando today [who scored a combined 82 runs], they got a lot of runs to the sides of the wicket. They used the spin of the ball and played sweep shots, making the fielders move from side to side. They played smartly, and we didn’t,” Rohit added.
Jeffrey Vandersay took six wickets in the second one-day international, and then Dunith Wellalage took five wickets to trouble the Indian batting lineup.
“Overall, we must recognize our errors, especially our inability to control the spin. On these types of pitches, you need to take charge, and the Sri Lankan spin bowlers consistently put us on the back foot in all three matches,” Rohit said.
In all three games, India had to bat second and couldn’t reach the set targets. The first game was a tie, and India lost the next two matches.
