🏏 India tour of Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka vs India, 3rd ODI, Colombo🏏

🏏 India tour of Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka vs India, 3rd ODI, Colombo🏏

Quite early on in the practice session on Tuesday, Shubman Gill stepped out against Axar Patel and gave his left-arm spin a hard whack. Using of feet was one aspect of India's game that was completely shelved against the Sri Lankan spinners in the second ODI, which they lost, leaving them with the need to salvage the series in the last game.

As many as five batters were pinged on their pads and dismissed LBW on Sunday - the joint-most number of wickets they have lost in an ODI in this fashion. Troubling them was a leggie who was not even in the original squad till a day earlier, with nothing more complicated than sticking to a stump-to-stump line. Abhishek Nayar, India's assistant coach, had admitted to the troubles that the Indian batters faced through the middle overs for two games in a row, and the need to go back and rectify those errors.

In the two-hour session, where Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli especially spent the majority of the time, they would hope that some of their experiments have held them in good stead heading into the last game of the ongoing Sri Lanka tour.

The loss in the second match has also opened up India's options - to field their best possible XI or experiment keeping in mind the next big ICC tournament that's coming in a matter of six months. For the newly-appointed Gautam Gambhir-led coaching staff, a loss would be quite a jolt having inherited a side that had put to display some of India's best ODI cricket less than a year ago. For all the early success in their reign, they wouldn't want to end their two-week trip to the south on a note where they find themselves with more questions than answers.

When: Wednesday, August 7, 2024, 2:30 PM Local Time

Where: R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

What to expect: It is expected to be yet another low-scoring encounter, with assistance for spinners. The weather will likely be pleasant with slight cloudy cover in the skies through the afternoon.

Team News:

Sri Lanka: Having not lost a game as yet in this series, Sri Lanka are likely to stick to the same XI that they played on Sunday. Dunith Wellalage could earn a promotion in the batting order.

Probable XI: Avishka Fernando, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka (C), Janith Liyanage, Kusal Mendis, Dunith Wellalage, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando

India: Rohit Sharma turned up for practice on Tuesday but didn't bat. On the other hand, Rishabh Pant did tonk the ball around a bit against the spinners in the nets. Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul had fairly long sessions. Neither Mohammed Siraj nor Arshdeep Singh bowled.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Shivam Dube/Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed

Did you know?

Before the start of this series, Janith Liyanage averaged 199 against spinners in ODIs. In this series, he has scored 32 runs in two innings, out of which in one, he walked without edging the ball

In 34 overs, Dunith Wellalage and Akila Dananjaya have combined to concede 173 runs and picked only three wickets

Sadeera Samarawickrama, who had come into this series averaging 180 against left-arm orthodox spin, has been dismissed twice in as many games by Axar Patel in the ongoing series

What they said:

Honestly, we are quality players of spin. We always played in these kinds of wickets even at home even in tests and in domestic cricket as well on such wickets. We know a lot of our players have done well in the middle-order especially batting against spin as well. It is just a matter of finding a way in their own individual ways and trying to get the job done - Washington Sundar, India all-rounder, ahead of the third ODI

There was a lot of pressure coming into the side. I am coming out of a layoff... There was assistance in the wicket, I was trying to hit the good areas. Once I got my first wicket, that built up my confidence. Fortunately, I was able to take six wickets -Jeffrey Vandersay, Sri Lanka spinner, after taking six wickets in the second ODI

In the spotlight - Virat Kohli and Avishka Fernando

Virat Kohli has only one fifty in his last 15 innings for India across formats. But here's the thing. He doesn't look out of form. And this is ODI cricket as well. He could probably write five different books about it - and star in their movie adaptations - and still not be done explaining how well he knows it. So a big score is probably on the horizon, and even if it isn't, he isn't the sort to be fussed about his numbers, not as long as he feels good in training and doesn't have to force himself to be involved. That's when there will be cause for worry.

Avishka Fernando is the best of both worlds. He can finesse the ball to the boundary, or if the mood strikes him, inflict that same ball to a whole lot worse. He puts attacking shots together like the rest of us put two and two together. It's just that natural to him. Except sometimes he might get carried away, which is why 26 of his 40 innings have ended at or before the 30-run mark and 17 of those innings have been single-digits. He'll be pushing himself to justify the talent he has and take his place as one of Sri Lanka's mainstays.

Big picture - The ODI learning curve

And they said the middle overs in an ODI are dull. India and Sri Lanka are playing a series where all of the action is contained in the exact period where the 50-over format tends to be dull. And that's largely because they have been playing these games - the first of which ended in a tie - on pitches that challenge a batter, in ways that extend far beyond technique.

The Khettarama is asking people to play cricket thinking two overs ahead; to avoid the expansive drive just even if the ball seems to be tossed up, because that juicy half-volley is actually going to dip and turn to go past the middle of the bat and take the edge through to slip.

Restraint is the very thing that India have spent the better part of two years beating out of themselves, but now it is the very thing that stands between them and a bit of a black mark on a very proud record. They have lost only five out of 22 bilateral ODI series. They have won the last 10 rubbers against Sri Lanka - a streak that will come to an end regardless of the result on Wednesday - and that is tribute to the way this Sri Lanka side has performed even though it is missing several first-teamers. They are certainly shading the middle-overs battle, averaging 24.7 and losing only 10 wickets to India's 17.8 and 14 wickets.

Throughout the series, the aggression of Rohit Sharma at the top of the order has made Sri Lankan fans wax nostalgic about the days when their line-up was littered with all-time greats too. In the same way perhaps, India fans might be looking at Dunith Wellalage, all of 21 years old, shepherding Sri Lanka through back-to-back collapses like someone who used to do it for them. He is one of two men in this series to strike at better than run a ball and the other one has been playing this format for almost as long as he has been alive.

Whether India win and level the series or Sri Lanka win and claim it 2-0, these three games are likely to be an important learning curve for both teams and that is a check in the box next to why bilateral ODI cricket is still worth it (just, does it have to be eight hours long?).

Team news - Does Parag have a chance?

Sri Lanka hit a sweet combination packing their side with spinners for the last game, which helped them drag India down from 97 for 0 to 147 for 6.

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Kusal Mendis (wk), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka (capt), 6 Janith Liyanage, 7 Dunith Wellalage, 8 Kamindu Mendis, 9 Jeffrey Vandersay, 10 Akila Dananjaya, 11 Asitha Fernando

India might weigh up the pros and cons of Shivam Dube and Riyan Parag. Dube is a proven spin-hitter, which is sure to come in handy, but Parag offers them a bowling option that is better suited to the conditions. Or if they're feeling really funky, they might drop a quick bowler to bring in Parag and hand Dube the new ball.

India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Shivam Dube/Riyan Parag, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Arshdeep Singh

Thanks for the thread and the tag

Thank you, Soni, for the thread and for tagging me.

It is a crucial match, India has to win this.