(Reuters)
Salman Butt, the former captain of Pakistan, recently commented on India’s ODI series defeat to Sri Lanka. The top-ranked ODI team struggled against Sri Lankan spin bowlers, who exploited the conditions effectively.
In the series, India first drew the opening ODI, failing to score the one run needed from 14 balls. They then lost the second ODI by 32 runs, unable to chase down a target of 241, and fell by 110 runs in the third ODI, falling short of the 249-run target.
Except for Rohit Sharma, Indian batsmen appeared uncomfortable against Sri Lankan spin, which thrived on the turning pitches. The Indian middle-order faltered after solid starts by the openers in the first two matches, with batting collapses occurring each time the opening partnership was broken.
Butt remarked on India’s series loss, noting that Suryakumar Yadav, who could have effectively countered the Sri Lankan spinners, was not part of the ODI squad. Under Yadav’s leadership, India had a successful T20I series, winning 3-0, with Yadav scoring 92 runs at an impressive strike rate of 195.74.
India Need To Sort Out Their Pitches: Salman Butt
“India needs to first sort out their pitches. Their batters have faced problems on spinning tracks. In particular, if you are playing on spinning tracks, the toss becomes important. Batting is easier for the team batting first, batting becomes difficult for the team batting second.
“The pitch deteriorates with the players running on the track which in turn creates the rough and then it becomes more difficult. So that is also a factor but then you need people who can play spin well,” said Salman Butt on his YouTube channel.
He highlighted Suryakumar Yadav as the top player in the current Indian squad for handling spin effectively and suggested that excluding him was a major oversight by the team. Yadav had demonstrated his proficiency against spin in the T20I series against Sri Lanka, particularly with his effective use of the sweep shot.
“The best batter of spin in this Indian middle-order at this point is Suryakumar Yadav and not playing him in the middle-order was a blunder especially against Sri Lanka, especially on these pitches. He sweeps the ball so well, he plays good inside-out shots, his overall game against spin is very good as well.
“And you need that type of player at number five or six, especially in the ODI game. India have good players against spin but not all of them are Suryakumar Yadav. So I think not playing him was a blunder,” stressed the former Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt.
In the meantime, Suryakumar Yadav was named the new T20I captain by Gautam Gambhir upon his appointment as the head coach of Team India. However, during the same press conference, Ajit Agarkar clarified that Yadav is not being considered for the ODI format.
With only three more ODI matches scheduled before the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, India’s upcoming approach to tackling spin will be crucial, especially given the issues highlighted in their recent series against Sri Lanka. It will be interesting to see how they address these challenges moving forward.
