India’s assistant coach Abhishek has reflected on the side’s defeat and admitted that the team was shocked by their loss against Sri Lanka. After a tie in the first ODI match against Sri Lanka, the men in blues suffered a 32-run defeat in the second ODI.
Sri Lanka has posed a significant result for the visitors in two consecutive games. The team will need to reflect on the defeat after Sri Lanka took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Chasing the target of 241 runs, India was bowled out for 208 runs in the 43rd over. Abhishek Nayar credits Jeffrey Vandersay’s match-winning performance as the brilliant performance of Sri Lanka’s lower-order batters who stepped up when their team needed them most.
“It was indeed a shock. While the dramatic shift was anticipated given the considerable spin, the sudden change in the game’s momentum still came as a surprise. In these conditions, the game can unexpectedly flip on its head,” Nayar said on Press.
“Scoring against the new ball was easy, like the previous game. However, the conditions became challenging for batters when the ball became old. This is something that happens in this format,” he added.
“Vandersay bowled exceptionally well, maintaining the ideal length for the conditions. When the ball is turning and he was bowling stump-to-stump with finger spin. The pitch then becomes helpful during these phases,” he explained.
“Batting first typically carries less pressure, as the focus is on building partnerships and setting a strong target. In contrast, when chasing, the pressure mounts as teams must monitor the run rate and wickets in hand. Wellalage batted wonderfully in both the games,” he further continued.
“We lost key wickets in the middle overs, which was the period when our middle-order batters were at the crease. It’s not as if the middle-order batters were batting at the end. The focus was more on maintaining a left-right batting combination, while also keeping in mind the presence of off-spinners and a leg-spinner in the Sri Lankan bowling attack.” he stated.
“We want to go back and understand, and rectify, why it happened twice in a row. The day before yesterday, we were able to stitch partnerships but today we lost quite a few wickets in a bundle.”
“My belief is that in any sport, a position only matters if you’re playing in different areas of a game. We lost wickets in the middle phase, and that’s where the middle-order batters batted. It’s not as if middle-order batters batted towards the end.
“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,” Nayar said. India shuffled their middle order with Shubam Dube to the number four spot while maintaining a combination with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul in the 7 and 6 positions respectively.
India needs to put some positive results in the upcoming ODI series. India has won 11 bilateral ODI series since 1997, but that streak will come to an end here as India can manage a 1-1 series draw at best. The third ODI match will start on August 07 at R. Premadasa Stadium.
