Sri Lanka exposed the frailties of ‘Young India’ against disciplined spin bowling in the final T20I in Colombo on Thursday, winning by seven wickets with 33 balls to spare and securing the series.
This was Sri Lanka’s first T20I series victory since defeating Pakistan in 2019, as well as a long-awaited bilateral series triumph against India.
Sri Lankans exploited the frailties of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, and even Sanju Samson as India, paralysed by the circumstances following Krunal Pandya’s Covid-19 positive test, limped to 81/8 after winning the toss.
After losing nine players to COVID-19-related isolation, India captain Shikhar Dhawan said on Thursday that they had the option of not playing the T20 International series, but they chose the difficult path of playing with only five specialist batters. India lost the three-match T20 series 1-2, losing seven wickets in the process. “It was a difficult scenario for us,” Dhawan remarked at the post-match presentation ceremony, “but as a team, we chose to remain and play the series.”
When asked what he learned as the side’s leader, Dhawan said: “As captain, I’ve learned a lot. The previous game was a nail-biter. The hitting unit had a bad day today, but the lads will learn from it. We lost far too many wickets today, and the Sri Lankan spinners did a fantastic job.” It was always about playing catch-up after losing too many wickets, he remarked.
“You’re under pressure when you lose early wickets and don’t have a long batting line-up. Both teams were in excellent spirits, which is a wonderful experience. The Sri Lanka captain and players were curious about my method, so I explained it to them, and I hope they found it interesting “.
Wanindu Hasaranga received Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards. “Our spinners bowled extremely effectively on a sluggish surface,” he added.
“I usually aim to bowl dot balls when I bowl. This aids in the acquisition of wickets. Fielding is also beneficial. I’m overjoyed because the other lads performed admirably throughout the series, both in ODIs and T20Is.”