(ANI Photo)
Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma has exposed the harsh reality behind the team’s disheartening 110-run defeat in the third ODI, which resulted in a 2-0 series loss on August 7 at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.
Following the series defeat, Rohit acknowledged that the team struggled on spin-friendly pitches, admitting they fell short in both bravery and strategy when faced with the challenging conditions throughout the three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka.
Rohit Sharma attributes India’s humiliating ODI series loss to Sri Lanka to a lack of courage.
The Indian captain also conceded that his team struggled to adapt and failed to put Sri Lanka under pressure, which contributed to their defeat in the ODI series in Colombo. Despite the significant setback, he emphasized that India is committed to addressing these issues moving forward.
Rohit Sharma said at the post-match press conference: “On such wickets, you have to try and keep having left-right combinations. At the end of the day, it’s important to take on the game on such pitches, where the ball is spinning and scoring is tough.
You need to be a little brave. I don’t think we were brave enough throughout the series to put them under pressure a little bit. We were behind in that aspect. But these things happen, so I do not want to look too much into it. We will address the concerns for sure.”
Meanwhile, Indian cricket is facing a major upheaval as the team’s difficulties with spin-friendly pitches and contentious batting order changes are scrutinized.
Rohit Sharma noted that the team’s failure to sustain momentum and adapt to spin-friendly conditions has been an ongoing problem, now brought into sharp focus by their recent performances during the Sri Lanka tour.
The Indian captain defends the controversial batting order decisions while acknowledging the team’s struggles against spin.
Additionally, the captain has recognized these ongoing issues and stressed the importance of developing individual strategies and possibly reshuffling the squad to effectively tackle varying pitch conditions.
Given the shortcomings of the current approach, Rohit Sharma mentioned that the team’s focus is now on implementing significant changes to enhance their performance on all types of playing surfaces, not just the ones that suit them.
Rohit signed off by saying, “We’ve had these issues in the past as well. We’ve had issues with keeping the tempo of the game. It is all about individual plans—how they want to take the bowlers on. We know where the problems are. We have to talk about it and let the players know that this is what we want.
If we have to be a little different in choosing the personnel, we have to do that, unfortunately. We’ll try and see how we can be a good team in all kinds of conditions, not just on good pitches or seaming pitches.”
India will next confront Bangladesh in a two-match Test series at home in September 2024. Rohit Sharma ended the ODI series against Sri Lanka as the top run-scorer, amassing 157 runs across three matches with an average exceeding 52 and a strike rate of over 141.
