2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke by India in the 3rd ODI vs Sri Lanka ft. KL Rahul's ouster
India's era under Gautam Gambhir hit an early roadblock as the 2023 World Cup finalists were thrashed 2-0 in the recently concluded three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in Colombo. The hosts ran out winners by 110 runs in the final ODI to put a question mark on their performance.
With a tie and a loss in the first two matches of the rubber, India had plenty to learn from and work on. However, they reserved their worst performance for the last game of the series as they slumped to a thumping defeat in a tame fashion.
The Men in Blue will next play international cricket on September 19, and they will have a long time to lick their wounds. For now, however, we need to assess where it all went wrong and what they can do better going forward.
On that note, here are two mistakes and one masterstroke made by India in the third ODI against Sri Lanka.
#3 Mistake - India dropped KL Rahul
KL Rahul is one of India's most dependable middle-order batters. Batting at No. 5, he has bailed the team out of plenty of tricky situations and has aced a challenging role while also being excellent behind the stumps.
However, India made a catastrophic call to drop Rahul for the third ODI, which was played on a wicket he could've been valuable on. All the Men in Blue needed was one of their batters to milk the bowling and hold one end up, irrespective of the quality of the bowling.
That's one of Rahul's biggest strengths, and although he didn't fire in the first two matches, he deserved a longer rope after his sustained consistency in the format. His replacement, Rishabh Pant, had a miserable outing. Even otherwise, it was a hugely concerning call from the team management and sent the wrong message.
#2 Masterstroke - India finally gave themselves more than 30 overs of spin
India finally decided to field an additional spinner, and they finally decided to drop a fast bowler who was taking up space in the XI. Arshdeep Singh was replaced by Riyan Parag to give the visitors more than 30 overs of spin, a move that was smart for various reasons.
Arshdeep hadn't been penetrative at any stage of the innings, and India not only needed an additional spinner but also a longer batting order. Parag, as an immensely talented player with a huge upside in both departments, was the obvious candidate for the role.
Among the two selection calls the think tank made, one was inexplicable and the other was tactically sound.
#1 Mistake - India's batters adopted terrible strategies on a tough track
Collectively, India's batting order failed miserably. Individually, too, the batters played rash shots to be dismissed.
Shubman Gill cross-batted a delivery after dancing down the track. The dance bug bit Rishabh Pant too, with the southpaw attempting a wild shot off Maheesh Theekshana to be stumped. Even captain Rohit Sharma, who was so assured at the crease, attempted a heave across the line when the ball was turning miles.
Virat Kohli and Riyan Parag misjudged the trajectory of the ball by huge margins, while Shivam Dube and Axar Patel were dismissed playing cross-batted shots as well. Almost no batter was bereft of fault for his wicket.