The Indian cricket team, under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, lost the third ODI match at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo against Sri Lanka’s Charith Asalanka on August 7 by 110 runs. With this latest victory on Wednesday, Sri Lanka created history by defeating India in the second ODI series after a gap of 27 years since 1997.
During the presentation ceremony, when asked if the Indian side was interested, the Indian captain said: “I don’t think it’s a problem. But it’s something we have to look at individually and as a game plan it’s a game. When you play for India, there is no satisfaction. When I was a commander, there was no reason to rest on your laurels. But you have to know good cricket. Sri Lanka played better than us.”
He added: “We looked at the situations and went for a combination, and there are guys who need to be looked at and changed. There are many places where we need to look beyond what is good. These are things that happen, a losing streak isn’t the end of the world, you’ll lose an awesome streak here and there, but it’s about how you get back after you die.
Earlier in the three-match ODI series, India managed to tie the first game and lost the second game by 32 runs.
India vs Sri Lanka, 3rd ODI:
Sri Lanka made a total of 248 by 7 wickets in 50 overs on Wednesday after their win against India.
Sri Lanka’s Avishka Fernando scored 96 off 102 balls, while Kusal Mendis (59) and Pathum Nissanka (45) contributed with their bat. Riyan Parag took three wickets for India, while Mohammed Siraj, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav picked up one wicket each.
Chasing a target of 249 runs, India were all out for 138 runs in just 26.1 overs. Captain Rohit Sharma scored 35 off 20 balls for India, and Washington Sundar scored 35 off 35 balls. Apart from this, no other batsman could cross 20 runs, including Virat Kohli. For Sri Lanka, Dunith Wellalage took five wickets, Maheesh Theekshana and Jeffrey Vandersay took two wickets each, Asitha Fernando picked up one wicket.
Speaking of which, Dunith Wellalage of Sri Lanka became the first spinner to take five wickets in ODIs against India in more than one season, to take five (5/40 in Colombo in 2023 and 5/27 in Colombo) in 2024.
