Nidahas Trophy 2018, 1st T20I: 5 things that went wrong for India

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Playing against Sri Lanka has become a habit for India recently, what with the two neighbours having met quite often over the last one year. Under Rohit Sharma, the Lankan-slaying batsman himself, a new-look side was deemed favourites for the tournament, but could not close in on a win in the opening game.

By the time Shardul Thakur was midway through the 19th over, the match was already in Sri Lanka's lap, courtesy a quickfire cameo from Thisara Perera towards the end.

Here are five points that will find their way into Rohit Sharma's personal diary, five reasons why the Men in Blue ended up on the losing side:

#1 Poor support for Shikhar Dhawan by the top-order

India's ultra-aggressive mode of batting in T20Is has been one of the focal points of their approach in the shortest format, and it had seemed to be working pretty well in South Africa. However, the plan fell flat on its face when Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina were back in the dressing room in no time, the latter getting bowled to a full toss.

Although Shikhar Dhawan was stuck at one end, and kept going hammer and tongs, the same kind of platform could not be laid in the powerplays, as it could have if one of Rohit or Raina had stayed along.

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