3 things Sri Lanka need to do right to claim historic series win against India
It's not usual for two full-member, World Cup-winning nations to meet in a casual bilateral white-ball series, months before an ICC tournament, and have one of the teams on the cusp of history. But that's what we have between India and Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday, August 7.
The hosts' talented opener Pathum Nissanka was born in May 1998 and is 26 years old now but is yet to see his country triumph over India in a bilateral ODI rubber. Thanks to the tied first ODI (where the umpires forgot to host a Super-Over) and an exemplary Sri Lankan win in the second, they are just one win away from rewriting the narrative for Nissanka and a generation of fans.
It won't be easy though. No matter how confused, in transition and rusty India have looked, they are still the finalists of the 2023 World Cup. There will be some key things that Sri Lanka will need to do right -- small battles that they'd have to win at all costs. Below, we have listed three of them:
#3 Play out Washington Sundar
This should have made its way to the Sri Lankan coaches' notes after that second ODI. Off-spinner Washington Sundar did most of the damage from the visitors' end, picking up three wickets for just 30 runs in his 10 overs.
The issue was that he didn't bowl as well as Sri Lanka made it look. Sundar brilliantly varied his pace and kept everything quick and flat to best utilise the slow track in Colombo.
Instead of trying to manoeuvre his deliveries around, Sri Lankan batters were overtly aggressive against him, losing their wickets while missing pre-meditated sweeps and step-out drives. In trying so, they missed out on simple, quick full-tosses at leg-stump.
Using the feet is important but a better strategy would be trying to work him around calmly, avoiding the build-up of dots and waiting for the loose deliveries -- which would certainly come -- and taking full toll of them.
India's other two spinners -- Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel -- looked more manageable for the hosts and now they need to just use that confidence to play out Sundar and not give him wickets.
#2 Use Arshdeep Singh's dip in confidence
During the second ODI, as Arshdeep Singh went wicketless despite getting a chance to bowl in all phases of the match, a lot of commentators pointed out how the left-arm quick looked short on confidence. They felt that perhaps his missed slog on the last ball of the first ODI, which was the difference between a win and a tie, was still on his mind.
Whether or not that was the case, Arshdeep did look like he was trying way too hard to get among the wickets, leading to loose deliveries in the powerplay and muddy plans at the death. It's something Sri Lanka should have noticed and should now aim to use against India.
The best teams pick their moments against the opposition's weaknesses. It doesn't mean try to hit him for six sixes in the first over but look at him as someone against whom they can score at more than run-a-ball.
#1 Get Rohit Sharma out early
You probably saw this one coming. Sri Lanka have managed to not lose despite Rohit getting two half-centuries in the first two ODIs. But if allowed a third, the Indian captain would probably make it big enough to push the hosts out of the game.
Sri Lanka can't afford to let Rohit lose again and they'd need a few tweaks in their plans for it. In the second game, they started the innings with pacer Asitha Fernando and left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage, which went against them.
They perhaps thought that Rohit wasn't the strongest against left-arm spin. However, had they gone deeper into the stats they'd have seen that Rohit was yet to get out against left-arm spin in ODI powerplays.
Right-arm orthodox bowling -- against which he averages just 35.2 -- is Rohit's bigger weakness. Quite often, the Mumbaikar tries to hit off-spinners out of the park early in powerplay and loses his shape and then wicket -- remember Glenn Maxwell in the 2023 World Cup final?
That's what Sri Lanka need to play with here. Instead of Wellalage, they'll have to bring either Akila Dhananjaya or Kamindu Mendis to attack, while asking Fernando to tie him down on the other end.
If they get him out early, that'll be one step into the winning door.