Dharamsala, Dec 10:
The susceptible technique of Indian batsmen in seamer-friendly conditions was thoroughly exposed as Sri Lanka comfortably beat India by seven wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series.
The win also enabled Sri Lanka break the ignominy of 12 straight defeats in ODIs and also their first win against India in the current year after losing all international matches at home as well as the Test series here.
It was an inauspicious start to Rohit Sharma’s India captaincy as the home team was shot out for 112 in 38.2 overs, a target which the islanders crossed in 20.4 overs.
Suranga Lakmal (4/13), Nuwan Pradeep (2/37) and Angelo Mathews (1/8) stifled the hosts with a fine display of seam and swing bowling in ideal conditions as Thisara Perera won a crucial toss.
Had former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni not stood tall amid ruins with a face-saving 65 off 87 balls, India at one point of time reduced to 29 for 7 and in danger of recording their lowest ever ODI score.
Their previous lowest was 54 against a formidable Sri Lanka in Sharjah back in 2000.
During Sri Lanka’s chase, Upul Tharanga blasted 49 off 46 balls with the help of 10 boundaries as the visitors overhauled the target with 29.2 overs to spare.
With Sri Lanka taking a 1-0 lead, India’s chances of grabbing the No 1 spot in the ICC ODI rankings is pretty minimal.
With regular skipper Virat Kohli taking a break due to his impending marriage, the Indian top-order did not cover itself in glory as the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik looked all at sea against moving delivery.
While most of the batsmen are not Test regulars, the performance does raise questions about Indian team’s ability to counter seam adn swing.
It was second time on the current tour after the Eden Gardens Test that Indian team’s ability was put to test and they again came a cropper. (PTI)
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