Indian captain Rohit Sharma hinted that the team would consider personnel changes if necessary to stay competitive across all conditions following India’s 2-0 loss to Sri Lanka in the three-match one-day series.
It was the Men in Blue’s first bilateral ODI series loss to Sri Lanka in 27 years, and the Indian batters struggled against the slower bowlers.
“Somewhere, we need to think about what we can do and which players should be given opportunities on such wickets,” said Rohit. “Although, when you are playing on such challenging pitches, it is also important to have consistency in your team selection. If you give players only one or two opportunities, it isn’t easy to manage such situations. We tried. We even wanted to try out a few players. It has been a poor series for us; we accept it.”
“We have to be clear about how we want to play and how to keep the momentum towards us while playing on pitches like these,” he added, indicating that a review of what needs to be done will be conducted.
“We fell short thrice. Even the game that ended in a tie, we should’ve finished that game. In the last two games we played, we knew where the problems were. We have to talk about it and let the players know what we want. If we have to be a little different in choosing the personnel, unfortunately, we have to do that. We will try to see how we can be a good team in all kinds of conditions, not just on good or seaming pitches but also on pitches that turn a bit. We must see what we must do as a team, as a batting unit.”
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Rohit also felt the Indian batters weren’t brave enough and did not take the fight to the Sri Lankan spinners, who scalped 27 of the 30 wickets in the three matches.
“I don’t think we were brave enough throughout the series to put them under some pressure. That’s why we were slightly left behind. On these slow pitches where some balls are turning and some are not, you have to go in with a game plan. At the same time, you also need to play your shots. If you think you will defend all six balls, it may not be possible on such a pitch,” the skipper explained.
The 37-year-old also highlighted that the batters, having grown up on similar surfaces, should be ready for such conditions and dont have an excuse for the performance.
“It comes down to individual plans. If the pitch suits your plan, take it on. If it isn’t, then what are the options? Come down the track, push for singles and all the basics of batsmanship on slow surfaces. We have grown up on slow pitches. It is about having a plan and believing that is good enough to come out on top on pitches like that.”
He also drew a contrast to how the Sri Lankan batters’ approached the conditions and said there were things that India could have learnt from.
“They were consistent with sweeps, taking their chances. Not a lot of runs were scored down the ground. It was about using sweeps and piercing that deep square-leg and midwicket field. That is something we failed to do as a batting unit. We didn’t play enough sweeps, reverse sweeps or paddle and didn’t use our feet much. That was the difference,” said Rohit.
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