India suffered their first ODI loss in their new era under head coach Gautam Gambhir, after a major batting collapse saw the Rohit Sharma-led side lose the second ODI against Sri Lanka by 32 runs on August 4. While the match highlighted a majorly bad outing for the Indian middle order batters, it was also all about Jeffery Vandersay’s bowling brilliance for Sri Lanka.
Having won the toss and elected to bat first, Sri Lanka’s batting unit was not able to materialise much on the call after some on-and-off show at the crease. Due to Avishka Fernando’s brisk start with the bat and an effective late drive from Kamindu Mendis, the hosts were able to post a target of 241 for India, which indeed looked like an easy mark initially. However, Vandersay’s brilliant 6/33 spell flipped the fate of the game at Colombo as India were bundled out for 208 runs.
SL vs IND, 2nd ODI: Highlights
Vandersay one-man-show
The match was all about Sri Lanka spinner Jeffery Vandersay running a one-man show for his side against the Indian batting unit, and that too, with some flair to his game. Vandersay single-handedly left the majority of the Indian batting lineup stunned at the crease, the beginning of which came with his opening wicket of Rohit Sharma, who was only showing signs of a big-hitting deadly form. Rohit completed his back-to-back fifties with an early on aggressive approach, but Vandersay’s consistent strive finally got the betters of the India skipper.
This became the building stone of Sri Lanka’s comeback into the game, which later saw the entire top and middle order of India’s batting unit faltter in front of Vandersay’s brilliance. However, the majority of the other Sri Lankan bowling attack failed to give any healthy support to Vandersay, except Charith Asalanka’s 4/20 pell.
Washington Sundar 2.0
The regeneration of Washington Sundar’s India career will surely be one of the opening highlights of the Gambhir era of Team India. The all-rounder only extended his recent run of brilliant form with his 3/30 spell against Sri Lanka on Sunday, which played a pivotal role in his side keeping the score to what seemed like a decent margin. Sundar effectively utilised the turning nature of the pitch, much like what Vandersay did in the second innings.
From the Zimbabwe series, to the Sri Lanka T20I series, and now ODI, Washington Sundar is gradually building his way to becoming an effective unit of the India side. However, Sundar’s consistency has always been his review arc, and the 24-year-old will only hope for his form to run long.
Gambhir yet to find a batting mix
The performance of the Indian batting unit in these two ODIs against Sri Lanka, specifically the second, clearly highlighted the lack of stability and structure in coach Gautam Gambhir’s side. Early days with the team, one can argue that these will be considered the preparation-stages for Gambhir’s era of Indian cricket. However, the tendency of the middle order batters failing to build on a strong start given to the side by the openers does have the capacity to turn into a long-run problem.
After Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill gave India a steady start in their 241-run chase on top of a 97-run partnership, none of the upcoming batters apart from Axar Patel was able to hold their ground. After Kohli’s dismissal for 14 runs, we saw Shivam Dube and KL Rahul depart for a duck, and Shreyas Iyer only manage 7 runs. This only raises question on the order of batters in this Indian side, and whether or not Gambhir and Rohit will try something different in the 3rd ODI and decisive ODI.
Source Agencies
