IND vs SL: On the brink, India need to dust up old habits

A tie and a loss in the ODI leg of the series in Sri Lanka, India find themselves looking into the mirror. They have learnt a few hard lessons, a crack has been exposed, the incompetence of batsmen against spinners on low, spinning tracks. If they nurture any ambition to level the series on Wednesday, they need to find quick solutions, even revert to the pre-

World Cup approach, old-fashioned and boring, that they struggled to abandon in the first place.

The conditions at the Premadasa will likely remain the same. The only question is whether it would be slower than the previous outing on Sunday. On these conditions, despite getting a head-start in their chase on successive nights, India crumbled in the middle overs. Hence, it’s not a bad idea to keep off the intent-driven game that made them an enterprising side in the World Cup, and embrace a more circumspect approach.

Even over here, captain Rohit Sharma has followed the same pattern, showing the aggressive intent straightaway. A 47-ball 58 and 44-ball 64 from Rohit has allowed India to breeze at seven-plus runs per over in the first powerplay. Thereafter, despite needing only 4.25 runs per over, the middle-order has faltered and were unable to get the better of Lankan spinners.

However in these conditions, Sri Lanka – who have not even qualified for next year’s Champions Trophy – have outsmarted India. In both these matches, India’s spinners have been as economical, if not better, as their Lankan counterparts. But where Sri Lanka have done better is how they have gone after the Indian quicks in the last 10 overs, even spinners to an extent. The 65 and 79 runs that they accumulated in the last powerplay had been the big difference.

Hence, going back to the method they had abandoned a year back won’t be bad idea. In these conditions, having a settled batsman who can accumulate runs without taking risks has been hard to find for India. With Lankan spinners asserting their domination, India haven’t been able to show the intent at all times, making them tentative and prone to mistakes. The middle-order has looked so rusty that after Rohit’s tally of 122 runs, the next best by their No 3, 4, 5 and 6 is Virat Kohli’s 38.

Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma addresses a press conference on the eve of the first one-day international (ODI) cricket match between India and Sri Lanka at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (PTI Photo)

Given his form, Rohit abandoning the aggressive approach and returning to the old formula, just temporarily, won’t be a bad fit. If India do succeed in playing their Champions Trophy matches away from Pakistan, they would mostly encounter similar conditions in the UAE or Sri Lanka.

Gaping crack

But whatever it is, India’s problems against spinners in slow conditions continue to be a problem. India’s all-rounder Washington Sundar blamed it on the tough conditions. “We’re quality players of spin. We’ve always played on these kinds of pitches, even at home, even in Test matches. In domestic cricket we play a lot of games on such wickets. A lot of our players have done really well, especially in the middle order, especially batting against spin,” Washington said.

But in both these matches, every single Indian batsman has paid the price for indecisiveness and have been guilty of playing the wrong lines. India have even reshuffled their batting-order to keep the left-right combination going in the middle-overs, but it hasn’t always worked, chiefly due to Sri Lanka’s spin depth.

Washington said the batsmen have to find their own way. “It’s just a matter of finding a way in their individual way and trying to get the job done. Everyone knows it’s a challenging wicket. The Indian team has always been one where everyone puts their hands up, especially when the challenge arises,” he said.

Their game-plan against spinners would be head coach Gautam Gambhir’s primary concerns. A prolific player of spin bowling in his days, he must have observed that India’s batsmen seldom use the depth of the crease or their feet. Instead, they have stood rooted to the crease, giving them negligible survival chances when the ball turns and keeps low. On Wednesday, India will get a chance to level the series. It didn’t even look like a possibility before the ODI series began. But the funny game has shown them the mirror.

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Their game-plan against spinners would be head coach Gautam Gambhir’s primary concerns. A prolific player of spin bowling in his days, he must have observed that India’s batsmen seldom use the depth of the crease or their feet. Instead, they have stood rooted to the crease, giving them negligible survival chances when the ball turns and keeps low. On Wednesday, India will get a chance to level the series. It didn’t even look like a possibility before the ODI series began. But the funny game has shown them the mirror.

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