It was history made. It is the first time, after 27 long years, that Sri Lanka beat India in a bilateral series. As humiliating as it gets for India, it is a moment of cherishment for Lankans.
Lanka came to the ODI after suffering a clean sweep defeat in the T20I series against India. Though India whitewashed Lanka in the shortest format, things weren’t as smooth as expected for arguably the best cricketing side in the world. But India were considered favorites and were expected to win it all in ODIs.
While the first match ended in a competitive tie, Lanka bagged the second one pretty easily. The third and final match was very important for India to rescue themselves from humiliation. But what awaited them was a humongous 108-run defeat. India’s famous batting line-up was horrible, and the bowlers were sharpless.
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Rajasthan Royals Help Sri Lanka Beat India
Interestingly, Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals had a hand in India’s loss. Zubin Bharucha from RR has given a 7-day training program for the Sri Lankan team, which played a major part in their victory.
Sanath Jayasuriya, who is Lanka’s head coach and their former legendary cricketer, agrees to it. He is in the joy that his team has ‘beaten the number 1 team in the world’.
“I got Zubin from Rajasthan Royals and he came and did a seven-day coaching program. We learnt a lot, the players learnt a lot on how to bat long innings, and one batsman was batting 2-3 hours. That gave the batters a lot of confidence. The players only need confidence. If they get some runs on the board, if they are bowling well, if someone gets starts and gets big runs, so those are the little things they can get the confidence high. At the end of the day, we have beaten the Number 1 team in the world.”
What’s Next for India and Sri Lanka?
India will now host Bangladesh for a t20-Teast and 3-T20I series in September. Sri Lanka will travel to England to play a 3-match red-ball cricket which will commence on August 21
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