Sri Lanka vs India: In the last 27 years, India hasn’t lost a bilateral series of the One Day International format versus Sri Lanka. The last time, India lost the ODI series versus the Lankans was way back in 1997. That series was played under the leadership of Sachin Tendulkar and the Blues were whitewashed 3-0.
Since then India has been a competitive side against Sri Lanka in all three forms of the game. But now under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy and the new coach Gautam Gambhir, India’s winning streak over Sri Lanka ended on Wednesday, 7th August 2024 at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo when the Men In Blue lost the three-match series by a margin of 2-0.
The recently concluded ODI series was a preparation for the ICC Mega Event in 2025. But when we look at this series, India’s middle-order batting didn’t click even once on the spinning surfaces of Sri Lanka, which will be a major concern ahead. The openers gave a good foundation in the first two games and the bowling at the start was also good in these matches.
But the form of Virat, Shreyas, Dube, and Sundar with the bat was very disappointing. India’s old problem of bowling in backend overs is another concern for Rohit and Gambhir to address in the future. Today, in this segment, we shall mention just the two best performers from India in this ODI series versus Sri Lanka –
Sri Lanka vs India: India’s Highest Run Getter Of This ODI Series, Rohit Sharma –
After taking India to the peak position in the T20 World Cup 2024 event, Rohit has seen the lowest point in his captaincy career. This series loss would be hard to digest for the skipper and as the fans of India, we hope Sharma Ji learns the lessons he had got from this 2-0 loss.
As the batter, Rohit was the best in this three-match series of the fifty overs format. He kept going with his hard-hitting approach at the top which allowed India to show some fight in the run chases. India had failed to chase down the scores in all three games despite their captain being the highest run-getter in the series.
HITMAN had scored 157 runs from just three games. Sharma had the best strike rate of 141.44, he had hit 18 boundaries and 8 sixes which are also the most in this whole three-match series. Rohit’s average of 52.33 was the third-best and he had also registered the third-highest individual score of 64 runs in this series.
Sri Lanka vs India: India’s Highest Wicket Taker Of This Series, Washington Sundar –
The spin-bowling all-rounder was good with the white cherry in hand. But India needed him to perform as the batter, especially when the likes of Kohli, Shreyas and KL were out early. Washi had lost a golden opportunity to shine with the bat in this series, which would also have cemented his place in the middle order of this ODI team.
Sundar was the highest wicket-taker for India in this series. He had picked up 5 scalps from 3 matches and 3 innings. Washi had the best economy rate amongst the other Indian bowlers. He had an economy rate of 3.00. He has been included fourth in the overall list as the highest wicket-taker and in this series, Sundar’s average was 21.00.
Also Read – SL Vs IND: Under Whose Leadership Sri Lanka Won The ODI Series In 1997 Against India?
