Follow UsIndia’s fortunes on their ongoing white-ball tour of Sri Lanka have taken a hit. After starting with two wins to begin the T20 series, India tied two games with the hosts — the third T20I and the first ODI. Sri Lanka clinched the second ODI by 32 runs. The Men in Blue now need to win the third and final ODI to level the series 1-1. A defeat will lead them to their first bilateral series defeat in ODIs against Sri Lanka in the 21st century.
The first two ODIs have been a mirror image of each other. Chasing in both fixtures, India started well at the back of quickfire fifties from the skipper Rohit Sharma. However, the middle-order succumbed to Sri Lanka’s spin, leading to a tie and a defeat.
Washington Sundar, 20 runs with the bat and 4/76 with the ball in this series, has brushed aside any inadequacy in the batting technique of Indian batters against spin.
"Honestly, we are quality players of spin," Washington said. "We've always played on these kinds of wickets even at home, even in Tests and in domestic cricket as well. We know a lot of our players have done well in the middle-order especially while batting against spin. It is just a matter of finding a way in their own individual ways to try and get the job done."
Sundar reckons it has been a challenge but backs his team’s ability to rise above it, citing previous examples.
"Everyone knows it is a challenging wicket and the Indian team always puts its hands up when the challenge arises. That's when we have been very good with both bat and ball and have come out in flying colours out of challenging situations. That is the definition of the Indian cricket team over the last many years.
"I think it has been the same scenario in this series as well and it is just about finding a way individually and getting the job done. I think it is a great opportunity to do that tomorrow."
In the first ODI, India collapsed from 75/0 to 132/5 and later slid from 189/5 to 230 all out. In the second fixture, India were bowled out for 208 after being 97/0 at one stage. While Washington assessed that the pitch has been similar in both innings of both ODIs, the spinners have had a little more zip under the lights.
"I feel it (the pitch) is similar in both innings. In the evening, maybe the zip is a bit more and slides in at a quicker speed but I feel it is the same,” he said on the eve of the series-decider.
It hasn’t been the best of starts to Gautam Gambhir’s coaching stint with the Men in Blue. However, an efficient player of spin himself, inputs from the former Indian batter could be critical to his side' quest to save the series.
"He (Gambhir) was a high-quality player of spin. We've always seen him put up brave performances, especially on such pitches against quality spin bowling. So obviously there has been a lot of input from him. That's one of the reasons we came here today to practice and try and find a way and try to do those small little changes,” Sundar mentioned.
Heading into the decider, the all-rounder is positive about India’s chances. "We're the best team, we just need to put our hands up in those critical situations in the games. Tomorrow it's an opportunity for us to do exactly that and win the game. Obviously, with big tournaments coming up, we will be in such situations. It's really important to find ways to see what we can do to win those critical situations in similar conditions against quality spin attacks.”
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