"If Rohit Sharma is unfit, India needs more 10 unfit players"- Top 10 funny memes after India's batting line-up collapse in 2nd ODI vs Sri Lanka
Team India's batting line-up collapsed for the second consecutive ODI during the ongoing Sri Lanka tour, wasting the brisk starts provided by Rohit Sharma at the top. After a tie in the first ODI, Sri Lanka defeated India in the second match on Sunday (August 4) in Colombo to go 1-0 up in the series.
The script of the second ODI was mostly similar to its predecessor. Sri Lanka batted first again after winning the toss on a spin-friendly surface. They overcame a collapse to reach 240/9 with some useful contributions from the lower-order batters.
India also got off to a good start, with Rohit Sharma notching up his second consecutive half-century inside the powerplay on the trot. En route to 64 (44), Sharma smashed four sixes and five fours before perishing in the 14th over after a 97-run opening stand with Shubman Gill.
It all went downhill for India after their captain's departure. The middle and lower-order batters struggled miserably against the Sri Lankan spin duo of Jeffrey Vandersay (6/33) and Charith Asalanka (3/20). As a result, India added only 111 runs for the last nine wickets and got all out for 208 to suffer a dismal loss.
Fans observed India's middle-order struggles in the ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka in both games. They were critical of the batting unit for not supporting their captain, Rohit Sharma. They expressed their frustration on the matter by sharing memes on social media platforms.
Here are some of the best memes:
"Sri Lanka played good cricket and are on the right side of the result"- India captain Rohit Sharma after losing the second ODI
At the post-match presentation, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma reflected on the loss and said:
"When you lose a game everything hurts, it's just not about those 10 overs, if you want to win, you have to play consistent cricket and these things happen. You got to adapt to what's in front of you, with left and right, thought it would be easier to rotate the strike, but that didn't happen and credit to Jeffrey.
"Sri Lanka played good cricket and are on the right side of the result."
He added:
"We do understand, the nature of this surface, the nature of the game how it's going to go as well, it gets tougher in the middle overs, you have to capitalize the powerplay, you have to score as may as possible, that's what me and Gill did. Don't want to look too much into how we played today, we will have a talk and see how we have to come back."
India and Sri Lanka will square off in the final ODI of the three-match series on Wednesday (August 7) at the same venue. The visiting team needs to win this match to avoid a rare series loss against the home side.