Where did it all go wrong? Well, to start off, the batting. The great Indian batting, which has now time and again found itself at the receiving end of a surprise spin package. In both ODIs – the tied game in the first ODI and the 32-run defeat in the 2nd – India were blindsided by Sri Lankan spinners and endured a batting collapse. In the opener, chasing 231, India were 75/0 before wickets went down in a clutter; whereas in the next one, the start was even better – Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill putting on 97. But on both instances, once Rohit perished, the wheels came off. Even the experienced duo of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul had no answer to the barrage of spin threat thrown at India.
Which has led us to the decider. For Sri Lanka, this can be a huge shot in the arm. They have had a tough couple of years, needing to play the qualifiers to make it to the T20 World Cup and a poor 2023 World Cup campaign. What's worse is that they haven't even qualified for the next big ICC event – the Champions Trophy in 2025. And even more importantly, their record against India off late has been pretty much one-sided. One more win tonight can ease off all that pain and give the team and its interim coach Sanath Jayasuriya reasons to cheer. The fact that they have India onto the mat without the likes of Matheesha Pathirana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dilshan Madushanka and a couple more of their match-winners is an incredible achievement, nonetheless.
Edited by Viswasruti - 3 months ago
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