Colombo, Aug 8 India captain Rohit Sharma admitted that his batters didn’t play many sweeps, reverse sweeps, and paddle sweeps, as well as not showing much footwork in tackling spinners, which led to their first men’s ODI series defeat to Sri Lanka in 27 years.
At the R. Premadasa Stadium, Sri Lankan spinners, led by Dunith Wellalage’s 5-27, bamboozled the Indian batters, who didn’t show much application and exposed their limitations of playing on slow and turning pitches, to win by 110 runs and win the series 2-0.
"They (Sri Lankan batters) 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 (who put on an 82-run stand), they got a lot of runs square off 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. All in all, we need to admit where we have made mistakes, we didn't dominate against spin. On such wickets, you need to dominate a bit and the Sri Lankan spinners had consistently kept us under pressure in all three games."
"It is important to take on the bowlers on such pitches, where the ball is turning and it is tough to score. It is important to be a bit brave. I don't think we were brave enough throughout the series to put them under a little bit of pressure. That's why we were a bit left lagging slightly," said Rohit to reporters at the end of the tour.
The issue of Indian batters being unable to thrive in spin-friendly conditions has come under the spotlight yet again, especially after Sri Lankan spinners took 27 visitors’ wickets in the series. Rohit believes solving the problem has got more to do with how every batter devises their own plans to counter them.
"Playing spin against slow bowlers on slow pitches shouldn't be the excuse for us. We all play on these kinds of pitches. It is about having game plans and being clear with your plans. It comes down to individual plans. Everyone needs to understand that this is my plan and this is how I am going to play.”
"If the pitch suits your plan, take them on. If it doesn't, then what are the options? Come down the track, push for singles, all the basics of batsmanship on slow surfaces. We have grown up on slow pitches. Pitches have turned and been slow. It is about having the own plan and believing that plan is good enough to come out on top on pitches like that."
"All these guys have come here playing so much cricket. All of a sudden to tell them to do things a little differently...to play the shot that they are not comfortable with is not ideal. We've had these issues in the past as well where the ball has spun a little bit, the wicket has been a bit slow. We had issues with keeping the tempo of the game.”
"That's why 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 your sessions, you try and work through that I can see the guys are working hard in the nets whenever we get the opportunity to train.”
“I don't see there being a lack of effort when we want to try and play different shots. Some of these guys played sweep, reverse sweep, and paddle as well. That's not the nature of their batsmanship. They are trying as well.”
“But we have to be clear with how we want to play and how to keep the momentum towards us while playing on pitches like these. 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 obviously knew where the problems were,” elaborated Rohit.
He signed off by hinting India won’t be shy of changing its personnel to excel on spin-friendly pitches in international cricket.
"We have to talk about it, we have to let the players know what we want. If we have to be a little different in choosing the personnel, we have to do that unfortunately.”
“We will try and see how we can be a good team in all kinds of conditions, not just on good pitches or seaming pitches, but also on pitches that turn a bit. We have to see what we have to do as a team, as a batting unit. I don't want to be critical because whenever I have asked them to do different things, they have done that.”
“Things like this happen. It won't be ideal to look deep into this. It's important to stay calm and give them confidence, give them the understanding that this is what is required. Hopefully, if we come up against conditions like this, they have better plans against spinners."
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