(Aug 07), Gautam Gambhir must figure out how to stop India’s batting collapses against good spin, which have turned into a regular occurrence.
It appears that lightning does, at the very least, strike the same spot twice. It happened three times in four nights last week in Pallekele, and each time it caused a stunning collapse for Sri Lanka in the Twenty20 International series. It has now struck the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, India twice in three nights (and counting), ending a glorious record.
In Pallekele, at least, Sri Lanka could at least blame their inexperienced lineup for facing the World Cup winners, who were a strong team even without bowling aces Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah. India lacks a backup plan of this kind; their powerful batting unit, which is superior to nearly every team in the world, was dismissed for the second time in a row by Sri Lankan spin.
For the first time since 1997, India will depart these shores having lost a bilateral series against their hosts after a 32-run loss in the second One-Day International on Sunday. Gautam Gambhir would have welcomed defeat in his first ODI series since taking over as head coach if they don’t tie the series on Wednesday.
India’s struggles against the turning ball are well-documented and not a secret. However, they are often overlooked because they don’t play in environments as favorable as those available at the Premadasa very often.
It is concerning that India’s collapses have occurred after a platform was established. In the first game on Friday, India lost three for 12, then five for 67, after captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill put on 75 for the first wicket in 76 deliveries. They then had to fight to tie the score by drawing level with Sri Lanka’s 230. On Sunday, there was no such way out, as 97 without loss quickly collapsed to 147 for six. There was no dramatic rearguard action, no late rescue act. India was dismissed for 208 after finding Sri Lanka’s 240 for ninety-two to be too much. Not a very happy development if you’re Rohit.
If one travels back eleven months, they will see that these two collapses are not unique occurrences. When the first wicket fell in the Asia Cup last September, Rohit and Gill were leading the same opposition to 80 runs in just 67 deliveries. By the time the procession was over, India was down 213 runs bowled. The fact that Kuldeep and Bumrah worked together to force Sri Lanka to fold and give the visitors a 41-run victory is another story.
All these Indian collapses have one bowler in common: a bowler who is best described as an off-spinner who bowls part-time. In these three matches, Charith Asalanka—who is currently Sri Lanka’s white-ball captain—has amassed combined stats of 10 for 68 from 24.1 overs. You get the idea.
Asalanka, Dunith Wellalage, Akila Dananjaya, Wanindu Hasaranga, and, most notably, Sunday’s Player of the Match Jeffrey Vandersay, are Sri Lanka’s spinners and have taken 18 of the 19 wickets that have fallen to bowlers in this series alone. Not even included in the senior squad until Hasaranga’s hamstring injury in the opening ODI, Vandersay put the veteran leg-spinner to shame with astounding figures of six for 26 in his opening seven overs. The famed batters from India were so confused, so hesitant, so lacking in application that you would have thought Shane Warne’s genius was working its magic.
