India Caught Off Guard by Sri Lanka's Domination

Kolkata: Following the missed opportunities in a tied match that could have ended in a victory, the immediate focus should have been on learning from those mistakes and ensuring they weren't repeated in the next game. However, India seemed to have missed that memo, leading to a string of unusual results. Despite the unchanged venue, India once again found themselves chasing a target set by Sri Lanka, who once again capitalized on opportunities given to their lower order. While Rohit Sharma continued to show aggression, the rest of the batting line-up seemed to approach the match as if it were a T20 game, relying solely on intent rather than strategy to secure a win.

It wasn’t to be so, and now India have to win the last ODI to avoid an embarrassment of sorts. Not because this Sri Lanka side is not a patch on their great past. But because India are here after moving into great winning positions in both their matches, positions from where risk-free cricket could have comfortably won the game.

“Was it a shock? I would say yes, there is a surprise,” said India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar in the post-match press conference. “But you anticipate and understand that in these conditions the game can turn on its head because there is so much spin on offer. Even if you look at the last game, it was relatively easy to score against the new ball. As the ball got older, the conditions when batting second got slightly tougher. Sometimes in tough conditions, especially in the 50-over format, this happens.

The answers are hidden in the puzzle. The ‘new ball’ allowed Sharma to play his game, which to be honest has been the backbone of many feisty ripostes in the past one year of ODI cricket. As the ball got older, the R Premadasa pitch started assisting Sri Lanka’s spinners just like it had assisted India’s slow bowlers. There was also dew in the evening, which meant India still held a decent advantage if they could get past the infield. To get there however demanded grafting, and on both occasions India were found wanting on that count.

“We want to go back and understand, and rectify, why it happened twice in a row,” said Nayar. “The day before yesterday, we were able to stitch partnerships. But today we lost quite a few wickets in a bundle.”

But it wasn’t as different as Nayar made it sound. Chasing 230 in the first ODI, India were 80/1 before slipping to 132/5. On Sunday, India slid from 97/1 to 133/5. Interestingly, India’s implosions too have come in similar phases — losing half their side between the 13th and 25th overs in the first ODI and between the 14th and 22nd overs in the second ODI.

And not surprisingly, spinners were behind both the collapses. The ball gripped and turned in both matches, though leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay was also bowling remarkably tight lines, something India’s batters failed to judge and deal with. “They bowled well – I think Vandersay bowled the ideal length in these conditions,” Nayar said. “In such conditions when the ball is turning – and the way Vandersay bowled today, used his finger and bowled stump to stump – you get these phases when there is assistance from the pitch. I feel today we should give more credit to Sri Lanka.”

Sri Lanka were definitely bowling like champions. But India’s inability to break it down and chase two relatively easy targets points to a massive gap building on the technical front. Which, of course, won’t be visible on shirt front pitches prepared in ICC or ACC events where batters can hit through the line without worrying about the older ball gripping and turning. Or in T20 cricket where batting skill is nowadays equated to brute power and innovation. But in bilateral series, on subcontinent pitches like in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — India have lost four out of six ODIs there since 2015 — India have often been found wanting against quality spin bowling.

Maybe it’s a question of mindset too. “When you are batting first, there is less pressure,” Nayar said. “When you are chasing, the pressure is more because you have to keep an eye on the run rate, wickets. Whenever you bat first, you often have partnerships.” But that can’t explain the puzzling experimentation with the batting order that saw KL Rahul being pushed to No.7 to accommodate Shivam Dube at No.4 ahead of Shreyas Iyer at No.6.

“If you look at numbers like four, five or six, maybe sometimes it can play games in your head. It was more about keeping a left-and-right combination, keeping in mind that there were offspinners, and a leg spinner in the Sri Lanka team,” said Nayar. “The thought process was right. When it doesn’t work out, these questions are asked often. But I’ve always believed that if a middle order batter bats as a middle order batter, it is the right decision.”

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