India batsmen need to fire in third ODI against Sri Lanka to avoid series defeat after 27 years

The onus will be on the Indian batsmen, especially the talisman Virat Kohli, to follow the path set by captain Rohit Sharma and tactfully face the challenge of spin in the third and final ODI in Colombo on Wednesday to avoid defeat in the first series for Sri Lanka in 27 years. It’s certainly not the start Gautam Gambhir, a match-winner, would have wanted in his first ODI assignment as the team’s head coach. India’s previous defeat in the bilateral ODI series against the islanders came in 1997. The Arjuna Ranatunga-led Lankans then inflicted a 0-3 hammering on Sachin Tendulkar and his men.

Since then, India and Sri Lanka have played 11 bilateral ODI games home and away, with the ‘Men in Blue’ emerging on the right side of the result in all of them.

India will fail to win the current three-match series after succumbing to the hosts by 32 runs in the second ODI and conceding a draw in the first game.

This position of discomfort is forced upon the team by the batsmen, who seemed plagued by indecision on an RPSC pitch that offered plenty of spin to the spinners.

Interestingly, none reflected this fragility more than the batting Kohli. He made 38 runs in two matches, but more than the volume of runs, the manner in which his dismissals raised greater concern.

Kohli looked subdued in the middle, especially after Rohit’s wild starts. Kohli just needed to build on that.

But the master batsman in him remained dormant as he sidestepped the leg-spin of Wanindu Hasaranga in the first match and six-wicket man Jeffrey Vandersay in the next, before eventually being consumed by them.

He looked very different from the dominant batsman who once hit four hundreds at this very spot. Perhaps Kohli should direct his mind to happier times rather than allow it to be chained by the demons of the present.

A fluid Kohli is crucial for India’s healthy functioning in the middle overs, be it during the chase or when setting a target.

But then his turmoil is a true reflection of the struggle that has gripped the Indian batting unit.

In Shivam Dube, India have a designated spin-basher, but the left-hander couldn’t even pick out a regulation leg break from Vandersay on day two, getting stuck in front of the wicket.

Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul have also dominated the spinners in the past, but here their feet and wrists did not respond to the slow Lankan bowlers.

They appeared to be experiencing a temporary loss of memory on how to spin the attack, the most effective weapon for keeping spinners in check on tracks like those at Premadasa.

They just need to watch Rohit’s batting to find a solution – not so much in his approach but more in the confidence and planning behind his batting.

There is no need to sugarcoat the lilies when describing Rohit’s batting, but his taming of the Lankan bowlers – pace and spin – has been exceptional.

Often a 44-ball 64 contained some risky shots, but Rohit’s strokes were so well calculated that they hardly looked risky.

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From a combined point of view, the team management can look at Dube’s position despite a 25 off 24 balls in the first match.

In the prevailing conditions, Riyan Parag’s spin, be it off-spin or leg-spin, can be more practical than Dube’s honest medium pace, and the former is an equally good batsman.

In turn, the Indian bowlers should also improve their effort at the business end as they failed to put the finishing touches on Lanka after reducing them to 142 for six and 136 for six.

(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)