When all the on-paper tigers of the Indian batting lineup turned into wet cats, the Blues witnessed one of their most embarrassing run in recent times. Also, it’s their first series loss in Sri Lanka in a long 27 years.
It was captain Rohit Sharma who had the most runs in the squad. The Hitman scored 157 while having a strike rate of 141.44. In the 3rd ODI, he fell at 35, which was the most an Indian batter scored in the game. The result was a horrible 108-run defeat to a team who were far inferior to them on the paper.
Rohit Sharma Slams Batters for the Loss
After the match, Rohit Sharma slammed batters for not trying sweeps and hitting straight shots. Diverse shots had brought Lankan batters great success against India. In the 3rd ODI, Sri Lanka’s 70% of the runs were from the sides of the wicket.
“They were consistent with sweeps, taking their chances. There weren’t a lot of runs scored down the ground. They didn’t use the feet as much as we expected. 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 sweeps, and used our feet too much. That was the difference.
“If you look at Kusal Mendis and Avishka Fernando today [who put on an 82-run stand], they got a lot of runs square of the wicket. They were using the turn, and sweeping, making the fielder move left and right. They were smart with how they batted and we were not.
“It is more to do with individual plans rather than us telling them what to do or what shot to play. All these guys have come here playing so much cricket. All of a sudden to tell them to do things a little different – to play the shot that they are not comfortable with – is not ideal.
“That’s where I have said, it’s all about individual plans, how they want to take the bowlers on, what are the shots they want to play. It starts with your training, When you get to your sessions, I can see the guys are working hard in the nets whenever we get the opportunity to train as well. I don’t see there being a lack of effort when we want to try and play different shots.”
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