Sri Lanka look to bounce back against India's formidable next generation

Sri Lanka were thwacked all around the park in the first One-Day International against Shikhar Dhawan and Co. and have now lost nine of their last 10 ODIs against India. The Sri Lankan batting unit did put up some fight in the first innings and posted a decent total of 262/9 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. However, India's young batsmen came out all guns blazing and finished the job with more than 13 overs to spare.

In short, Sri Lanka were no match to India in the first ODI. Almost every single Sri Lankan batsman got off to a decent start but not one of them could convert it into something substantial. The Dasun Shanaka-led side will now have to regroup quickly and put in a much better performance in the second ODI on Tuesday (July 20) if they want to keep the three-match series alive.

A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE

"I was actually telling them to take it easy. The way Prithvi (Shaw) and Ishan (Kishan) batted, they finished the game in the first 15 overs. Even when Surya(kumar Yadav) came in and batted, it looked so easy. I was like maybe I have to improve my skills." India's stand-in skipper Dhawan himself scored 86* off 95 deliveries but was left in awe with the way Shaw, Kishan and Suryakumar went about their business. Dhawan played the role of an anchor to perfection and allowed the aforementioned trio to dictate terms at the other end.

The carnage started with Shaw who whacked 43 off 24 deliveries and got India off to a flier. Kishan then announced his arrival into ODI cricket with a six off the very first delivery he faced. The wicketkeeper-batsman slammed 59 off 42 deliveries - second-fastest ODI fifty by a debutant - before Suryakumar took over and got India over the line with a 20-ball 31*. Amidst all the chaos, Dhawan kept one end intact and allowed all the young guns to have fun. The trio provided a glimpse into the future, which looks quite bright for Indian cricket.

The next 50-over World Cup is in 2023, and despite the ongoing Super League, India's focus is largely on the next two T20 World Cups. Shaw, Kishan and Suryakumar are all in contention for this year's T20 World Cup and the three of them treated the first ODI like an audition for the upcoming showpiece event. Indian captain Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma, who are currently in England, along with Dhawan generally take a sedate approach in the first 20-30 overs before going berserk at the end. However, that's not the case with the next generation.

Since the 2019 World Cup, the Men in Blue have a scoring rate of 5.6 in the first powerplay and 8.7 in the final 10 overs. However, India smashed 91 runs in the first 10 overs on Sunday, which is the highest they have registered in this phase since 2013. The likes of Shaw and Kishan didn't take any time to settle in and went hard from the word go, something that India will have to get used to if they want to dominate limited-overs cricket. England will be the team to beat for anyone who wants to win an ICC white-ball tournament in the next few years because this is the exact approach that defines Eoin Morgan and his men's domination in this format.

But, if there's one Indian batsman who will be under a bit of pressure is Manish Pandey. The 31-year-old batter from Karnataka has been around for quite some time now but is yet to cement his spot in the Indian side. Pandey, who averages less than 35 in 27 ODIs, had a perfect opportunity to score 50-odd runs and finish the game for India last night but the right-hander threw his wicket away after scoring 26 off 40 deliveries. It's highly unlikely that he is going to feature in the T20I series, so Pandey will have to make the most of whatever limited opportunities come his way.

INDIA NEED WICKETS IN POWERPLAY

The Indian bowlers have struggled big time to take wickets in the first 10 overs of late. India have an average of 113.7 and a strike rate of 111.4 in the powerplay since 2020, which is way more than the second worst - Zimbabwe (56.4 and 68.6 respectively). And, if you are just talking about fast bowlers, the average and strike rate goes up to horrendous 153.4 and 152.4 respectively.

Even in the first ODI, Sri Lankan openers Avishka Fernando and Minod Bhanuka put on 49 runs before Yuzvendra Chahal got India the first breakthrough in the 10th over. The likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini and few others have all struggled to take wickets with the new ball, and India also have the worst economy rate (6.1) in this phase. This is something that could come back to haunt India against formidable teams.  

DO SRI LANKA EVEN STAND A CHANCE?

Nothing seems to be going in Sri Lanka's favour at the moment, both on and off the field. They have lost nine of their last 10 ODIs and the ongoing dispute over their central contracts with the board is also well documented. Amongst the top-10 ODI teams, Sri Lanka have the worst batting average (28.3) and balls per wicket (32.6) since 2020. They have only managed to touch the 300-run mark thrice in their last 18 ODIs. Meanwhile, India have done it in 10 out of their last 19 games.

"A lot of our batsmen got good starts, but a lot of us weren't able to continue. If more of our batsmen had been able to bat longer, we could have attacked earlier and gone for a bigger score. We do have the ability to get to 300 or 350, and hopefully, that will happen in the next games," said Chamika Karunaratne, who top-scored for Sri Lanka from No. 8, hitting 43* off 35 balls. It was because of him Sri Lanka managed to cross the 250-run mark. Six of their batsmen scored over 20 but not a single one of them could convert it into a fifty. The hosts will need a lot of runs from their batting unit if they want to compete with India in the remaining two ODIs.

PROBABLE XIs

Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Minod Bhanuka (wk), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Isuru Udana/Lahiru Kumara, Dushmantha Chameera, Lakshan Sandakan/Akila Dananjaya.

India: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prithvi Shaw, Ishan Kishan (wk), Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav.