India suffered a shocking batting collapse against Sri Lanka for the second match in a row on Sunday (August 4), and this time it came to hurt India as the Rohit Sharma-led side went down by 32 runs. The shocking defeat in the second match played at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo ended India’s chances of winning the ODI series in Sri Lanka. India can still finish the series on level terms if they manage to get the better of Sri Lanka in the last match of the tour on Wednesday (August 4).
India’s shocking performance with the bat in the first two matches came as a surprise, not just for the fans but for the Indian team management as well. After India’s dramatic batting collapse in the second ODI, India’s assistant coach, Abhishek Nayar, attended the press conference on Sunday and said that India will go back and understand the reason behind the back-to-back poor show.
“We want to go back and understand and rectify why it happened twice in a row. The day before yesterday (Friday), we were able to stitch partnerships. But today (Sunday), we lost quite a few wickets in a bundle,” Nayar said.
According to Nayar, who joined India’s coaching staff last month after Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as head coach, the defeat in the second ODI was a shocking one. He, however, praised Sri Lankan spinner Jeffrey Vandersay for his super show with the ball.
Vandersay was added to the squad as a replacement for injured Wanindu Hasaranga on Sunday, and he made the most of the opportunity by dismissing six Indian batters.
“Was it a shock? I would say yes; there is a surprise. But you anticipate and understand that in these conditions, the game can turn on its head because there is so much spin on offer.”
“Even if you look at the last game, it was relatively easy to score against the new ball. As the ball got older, the conditions when batting second got slightly tougher. Sometimes in tough conditions, especially in the 50-over format, this happens,” he added.
“They bowled well; I think Vandersay bowled the ideal length in these conditions. In such conditions, when the ball is turning—and the way Vandersay bowled today, used his finger, and bowled stump to stump—you get these phases when there is assistance from the pitch. I feel today we should give more credit to Sri Lanka.”
Vandersay finished the match with figures of 10-0-33-6.
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