India vs Sri Lanka: 3 Things That Went Wrong For the Indian Team In 2nd ODI

Sri Lanka defeated the Indian team in the 2nd ODI of the 3-match Series by 32 runs. With this win, the Island nation are leading the series by 1-0. After winning the toss, Asalanka and Co. opted to bowl first at R Premadasa Stadium Stadium, where they managed to score 240 runs in 50 overs with the help of crucial knocks by tailenders batters Wellalage and Kamindu Mendis. They formed a crucial partnership of  72 runs for 7th wicket when the home team were 6 wickets down on the score of 136 runs. 

Despite getting early wickets, the Indian cricket team failed to restrict the Sri Lanka team from a below-par score, which made them lose the match by 32 runs. It would not be wrong to say that there were several reasons for yesterday’s loss, from failing to stop runs in the death overs to middle order collapse while chasing the total. Through this article, we will highlight 3 things that went wrong for the Indian team in the 2nd ODI against Sri Lanka. 

1. Average bowling performance

At one stage, Men in Blue were seen dominating the home team by picking wickets in regular intervals with the help of their spinners, who managed to take a total of 6 wickets. However, the fast bowlers struggled, particularly in the death overs, allowing the tailenders to form a crucial partnership and push the score to a respectable 240 runs. Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj conceded a total of 101 runs in their 17 overs combined, with Siraj taking 1 wicket and Arshdeep remaining wicketless.

2. Middle-order collapse

Another one of the main reasons for India's defeat is poor performance by middle-order batters. After getting a good start by the openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill of 97 runs in 14 overs, the middle order batters failed to form a partnership and got 5 wickets out in a span of just 50 runs.

Despite a valiant effort from lower-order batters Axar Patel and Washington Sundar, they couldn't take the team across the finish line, particularly against the Sri Lankan spinners who were getting substantial help from the pitch in the second half of the match.Inadequate changes in the batting order.

3. Inadequate Changes in the Batting Order

One of the reasons for Indian batting line failure was inadequate changes in batting order as in the first ODI, Men in Blue were seen promoting Washington Sundar up to the order on number 4 when the Indian team were 2 wickets down with all-rounders Shivam Dube and Axar Patel, coming to at 7 and 8 number. Meanwhile, in the 2nd ODI, they promoted batting all-rounder Shivam Dube to number 4.

Despite knowing the condition that the Indian team needed to form a partnership after back-to-back wickets of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, they went with a player who is known for his hard-hitting ability.  If they had gone with Shreyas Iyer or KL Rahul on numbers 4 and 5, things would be different for the Indian team in the last ODI. However, after this loss, the Indian team can make a few changes in the playing XI before heading to the next game as they can replace Riyan Parag and KL Rahul in place of Shivam Dube and KL Rahul, who have failed to perform in the first 2 matches of the series.

India will be playing the final match of the series on Wednesday at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. This will be an important one for the Indian team after failing to win in the first 2 games of the series.