Leaving T20Is behind and returning to ODIs hasn’t been the best for the Indian cricket team. Having last played an ODI series in December, the Men in Blue were rusty and ill-prepared to tackle the spin-friendly conditions of Sri Lanka. But the Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma, feels that India are well equipped to face spinners and that they were ‘unserious’ about facing a team ranked six places lower than them in the ODI rankings.
“Don’t think it’s a concern, something that we need to look at seriously with individual game plans, something we were put under pressure throughout the series. When you are playing for India, there’s no place for complacency. That’s not going to be the case when I’m captaining the side; you come out and try to give your best,“ said Rohit Sharma after becoming the first Indian captain to lose an ODI series to Sri Lanka in 27 years.
Still many positives
A series loss like this would surely irk, but Rohit Sharma has decided to find some positives despite that. Playing Washington Sundar was surely a plus, and the Indian management also gauged what Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh, and Riyan Parag have to offer in 50-over cricket.
“We looked at the conditions; taking the pace of the ball was ideal combination, we went with that. Lot of players waiting in the wings; they hadn’t gotten the opportunity. All in all, we didn’t play good cricket, hence the result. Throughout the series, there were a few positives, how the spinners bowled and some of the batters in the middle. We lost the series, even though if you look at the positives, I feel there are plenty of areas to look at. Something that we will think about, turn up better in such conditions. You will lose on odd series here and there; what’s important is how you bounce back,” Rohit said in the post-match press conference.
