Who said what - Top 3 expert reactions to India's loss to Sri Lanka in 2nd ODI ft. Aakash Chopra
Sri Lanka beat India by 32 runs in the second ODI of the ongoing three-match series between the two teams at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, August 4.
The hosts now have a 1-0 lead in the series after the first game finished in a tie. This was also the hosts' first win over India in three years in this format.
Chasing a modest 241, India stumbled to get all out for 208 while failing to counter leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay, who finished with figures of 6-33 and troubled the Indian batters throughout their innings.
The 34-year-old spinner was critical in leading the Lankans' revival in this game, and most importantly, giving them an unassailable lead, with the third game of the series due to be played at the same venue on Wednesday, August 7.
The Indians came in for heavy criticism in the aftermath of this game from all quarters. In this listicle, we take a look at the top three expert reactions to India's loss:
#1 Abhishek Nayar - "We want to go understand why it happened twice in a row"
India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, who became a part of the support staff after new head coach Gautam Gambhir was brought on board, mentioned that the best thing to do here would be to understand and rectify what went wrong.
Nayar gave due credit to Vandersay and mentioned that the lengths the latter bowled helped him immensely. With the amount of spin on offer, it was always going to be a challenging chase, but Sri Lanka did extremely well, he said.
"We want to go back and understand, and rectify, why it happened twice in a row. The day before yesterday, we were able to stitch partnerships. But today we lost quite a few wickets in a bundle. Was it a shock? I would say yes, there is a surprise. But you anticipate and understand that in these conditions the game can turn on its head because there is so much spin on offer," said Nayar.
"Even if you look at the last game, it was relatively easy to score against the new ball. As the ball got older, the conditions when batting second got slightly tougher. Sometimes in tough conditions, especially in the 50-over format, this happens," he added.
"They bowled well - I think Vandersay bowled the ideal length in these conditions. In such conditions, when the ball is turning - and the way he bowled today, used his finger, and bowled stump to stump - you get these phases when there is assistance from the pitch. I feel today we should give more credit to Sri Lanka," said Nayar.
"The last two T20 games assisted spin. When we came here and practised as well, we kind of understood that there will be turn on offer, there will be help and assistance (for the spinners). It wasn't a surprise and we had prepared for it," he signed off.
#2 Aakash Chopra questions Shubman and Kuldeep's form
Former India opener Aakash Chopra disapproved of the Indian performance. Taking to his YouTube channel, he noted that Kuldeep Yadav and Shubman Gill had failed to live up to their potential.
"We are saying this is a slow track and he isn't getting much help. He (Kuldeep) took wickets - got Janith Liyanage caught and bowled but it's also true that on the same pitch, Jeffrey Vandersay took six wickets. He's also a wrist spinner so you expect Kuldeep to be the pick of the bowlers but that hasn't happened yet," Chopra said.
"Shubman Gill hasn't looked dominating yet. He's thinking runs are available here and he can play a huge innings - score 70, 80 or maybe even 100 runs. But he's not able to reach there and is getting out," he added in the video.
#3 Basit Ali - "This is a very bad performance"
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali tore into the Indian batting lineup for their poor showing in the second ODI against Sri Lanka. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ali mentioned that India, like his home country Pakistan, had forgotten the art of playing spin and seemed to be all at sea against Vandersay.
"This is a very bad performance. I remember a movie, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. This morning, India reached the hockey semifinals of the Olympics. But in cricket, it was exactly the opposite of that. The kind of Indian batsmanship that was on the fray, it didn't seem that this is the kind of batting that rules the world," he said.
"I also feel that Iyer and Rahul did not practice. They came into the series without practice. There are big questions. The first wicket fell on 97 that too, Rohit got out while hitting reverse. Is Rohit the only batsman in the Indian team? There is no other batsman," he added.
Ali felt the need to mention that Shubman Gill ought to have taken more responsibility for putting runs on the board. Head coach Gautam Gambhir too came under fire for opting to go with Shivam Dube and not Rishabh Pant in the lineup.
"Gill got out with 30-35 runs. Who will take responsibility? Will only Rohit and Virat's name be heard? What are the other players doing? Today, you can see that Axar played well. The way he played, he played accordingly. I feel after Pakistan, India have also forgotten how to bat against the spinners. Maybe because the focus was more on T20s. I feel sad seeing Shivam Dube's dismissal. He couldn't even read it from the hand. Washington Sundar got out in a similar fashion in the first match," said Ali.
"Gautam Gambhir is using the wrong combination. If he wanted to use the left-right combo, Axar Patel could have come ahead and then Rishabh Pant could have played. Instead of Dube, play two wicketkeepers," he signed off.