Ind vs SL, 2nd ODI: Sri Lanka wins the toss and elects to bat first
PTC News Desk: Two games, two draws. Nobody could have predicted that the Indian team led by Gautam Gambhir would get off to such a strong start. There was little separating India and Sri Lanka in the first One-Day International in Colombo, but the third Twenty20 International—the dead rubber—was decided by Super Over.
That India should have won the game easily—especially with one run needed to win off of four balls—is a whole different matter. And the result would have been completely different if Arshdeep Singh had chosen a better shot. Despite the fact that the match finished in a draw, Sri Lanka emerged victorious.
Though they haven't defeated India in an ODI bilateral series since 1997, Sri Lanka has a great opportunity to end the curse now. Just one victory at a time. Task completed. If there's one thing the world has learned about this Indian team, though, it's that when things don't go their way, they bounce back stronger—more vicious and passionately determined. The players would still be feeling the effects of the draw from two nights ago, especially Gambhir, who, like Kohli, celebrated a little too soon when Shivam Dube's boundary tied the game.
India would know better than to subject themselves to another poor middle-order batting performance. With the exception of the India captain's 58 off 47, the next-best score was 33 from Axar Patel, demonstrating how much of a difference there is between him and the other hitters. Based on the first ODI, Rohit appears to have carried on where he left off on November 19. The other hitters seemed to have done the same. India can comeback because of their depth in the bat, but having to do so twice in a row would be asking for too little.
In the meantime, Sri Lanka would have felt more confident after their retreat. It is primarily a batter's game—18 needed off 30 with a set batter—but their spinners, Wanindu Hasaranga and captain Charith Asalanka, put a spanner in India's works. Having said that, the hots have now lost another important player to injury. They were already struggling to cope with the loss of four players. And a large one, like Hasaranga. On Friday, the spinner was favoring his left hamstring, and he was declared out of the series on the eve of the second game. A hammy injury is never good, especially for the Lankans who are already battling a few combo issues at this point.
- Sri Lanka will be without Wanindu Hasaranga for this game.
- Virat Kohli is a century and few more runs away from completing 14000 ODI runs.
- Dunith Wellalage is a threat for India with both the ball and bat in hand.
- India likely to remain unchanged from the 1st ODI, which means Harshit Rana will have to wait.
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- With inputs from agencies
