India’s Shreyas Iyer leaves the ground after losing his wicket during the third ODI cricket match between Sri Lanka and India in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday (Aug. 7, 2024)
| Photo Credit: AP

Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as head coach started promisingly with a 3-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka in the T20Is before his side was shocked in the 50-over format, going down 2-0 in the three-match series.

The conditions in the one-dayers were on the extreme side, considering how spin-friendly the surfaces were, and batting got progressively tricky as the game went by. A case can be made that such pitches are an outlier, and one shouldn’t read too much into the results.

Wake-up call

However, the reverses in the ODIs might be a timely wake-up call to the team management, considering India fielded almost a full-strength side, missing only Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya.

Gambhir’s big vision for the team indicates that he wants more all-rounders and the batters to roll their arms over. The likes of Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma bowled a few overs. In last year’s 50-over World Cup, once India lost Hardik, it had only one genuine all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja and had a long tail. India’s batting depth in this series extended to eight and even nine in the final one-dayer by playing all-rounders Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar and Riyan Parag.

Another aspect evident throughout the tour, in both the T20s and one-dayers, was the preference to have a left-handed and right-handed batter in the middle as much as possible. However, whether the think-tank persists with this remains to be seen.

In terms of individual efforts, Washington and Parag’s bowling were the big positives.

Parag was impressive in the T20s and on his one-day debut, effectively mixing his off- and leg-breaks. Washington, the Player-of-the-Series in Zimbabwe, continued his fine bowling form. He was tight as ever and got more purchase off the surface to give vital breakthroughs in the one-dayers.

Dube got a sustained run in this series to see if he could be an effective back-up for Hardik. But the all-rounder did not set the stage on fire. While his bowling was decent, his inability to close out games through his willow was a let-down. Known for his ability to hit the spinners, Dube failed to do that in challenging conditions.

Rishabh Pant’s return to the one-day set-up in the final game came two years after his life-threatening accident but lasted only nine deliveries. For now, it seems K.L. Rahul, who has been impressive as a middle-order batter in the last few years, will continue to don the big gloves.

Concern

The big concern for the coaching staff will be that the team did not get much headway in answering the question about the third seamer. Arshdeep Singh was unimpressive in the two games and the team couldn’t try out Khaleel Ahmed or Harshit Rana either.

India would have wanted to shore up its resources for a few slots in an otherwise settled one-day set-up. The results, though, were mixed, and management will have plenty to ponder in the near future.

Mohammed Siraj celebrates the wicket of Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne during their match in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 2.
| Photo Credit: ANI

India became the first team to secure a semifinal spot at the Cricket World Cup after Mohammed Siraj bowled a stellar opening spell to help the hosts dismantle Sri Lanka for a 302-run win on November 2.

Siraj took three wickets for nought in the first seven balls as Sri Lanka lost its first four wickets for just three runs within 19 deliveries.

Mohammed Shami then took four wickets in three overs in his opening spell, as Sri Lanka was bowled out for 55 runs in 19.4 overs. That was after Shubman Gill’s 92 and a quick-fire 82 off 56 balls from Shreyas Iyer helped India reach 357-8. It was the second biggest margin of victory in World Cup history.

Shami finished with 5-18 in five overs, his second five-wicket haul in this tournament. Siraj finished with 3-16 in seven overs.

Virat Kohli also scored 88 runs, and he and Gill put on 189 for India’s second wicket. It was the highest team score without an individual hundred in a World Cup.

India rose atop the points’ table with a perfect record after seven games and is the only unbeaten side in the tournament. It will play its semifinal at the same venue on Nov. 15, unless it meets archrival Pakistan in the last four — in which case the game would be played in Kolkata on Nov. 16.

With a fifth defeat in seven games, Sri Lanka still has a mathematical chance of reaching the semifinals by winning its remaining two games, but will also need other results going its way.

Siraj’s stunning opening spell began with Jasprit Bumrah sending back opener Pathum Nissanka for a first-ball duck, out lbw. He then trapped Dimuth Karunaratne lbw for a golden duck, Sadeera Samarawickrama was caught at slip for a four-ball duck, while Kusal Mendis was bowled for one run.

The scorecard read an astonishing 3-4 after 3.1 overs — the joint lowest total for the top four batsmen in ODIs, matching Pakistan’s one run against West Indies in 2015.

Sri Lanka’s problems weren’t over yet, as India deployed Shami at the other end and he picked up three wickets in his first nine deliveries.

Charith Asalanka was out for one, while Dushan Hemantha and Dushmantha Chameera were caught behind without troubling the scorers.

Only Angelo Mathews managed more than a run amongst the first eight batsmen, and then reached double digits, scoring 12 off 25 balls.

The 1996 champions were down to 14 runs for six wickets in 9.4 overs. It became 22-7 in 11.3 overs, and Shami then bowled Mathews to make it 29-8 in 13.1 overs. Five Sri Lankan batsmen were out for a duck, and only three managed to reach double digits.

Shami picked up his fifth wicket as Kasun Rajitha was caught at slip, making him India’s leading bowler in World Cups with 45 wickets. He went past Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan, both with 44 wickets.

Put into bat, India had made a poor start as Dilshan Madushanka stunned the Wankhede into silence by bowling Rohit Sharma for four off the second ball of the Indian innings.

India could have been in further trouble as both Gill and Kohli were dropped across three deliveries. But the duo didn’t give a sniff to the Sri Lanka bowlers after that as Kohli got to a run-a-ball 50, with Gill scoring 50 off 55 balls. Their 100-run partnership came off 98 balls.

Kohli set the pace initially but slowed down as he approached a record hundred. At the other end, Gill increased his pace and hit some choice boundaries to regale the weekday crowd.

The young opener was out when he tried to ramp a short delivery to the boundary and was caught behind in the 30th over.

Madushanka got the breakthrough and two overs later sent back Kohli as well — a slower delivery inducing the batsman to a false shot — out caught at short cover.

Gill had hit 11 fours and two sixes, while Kohli hit 11 fours. It brought Iyer and Lokesh Rahul to the crease and they put on 60 off 47 balls for the fourth wicket.

India lost its way a bit in the middle overs as Rahul was out caught for 21, while Suryakumar Yadav was out for 12. He was Madushanka’s fifth wicket as the pacer finished with 5-80, the second most expensive five-wicket haul in ODIs.

Iyer, though, held one end together by bringing up 50 off 36 balls. He put on 57 off 36 balls with Ravindra Jadeja, who scored 35 off 24 balls.

Overall, Iyer hit three fours and six sixes to help India cross 350, but missed the chance to score a World Cup hundred on his home ground.