'We didn't play enough sweeps and used our feet too much' - Rohit Sharma analyses India's series loss to Sri Lanka

India suffered an embarrassing 110-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the final ODI and lost the series 0-2. The finalists of the ODI World Cup 2023 made changes to their batting order in each game, which likely backfired and cost them the series. Captain Rohit Sharma however had a different opinion as the 37-year-old mentioned that the batters didn’t play enough sweeps against spinners and used their feet too much, which resulted in losing wickets.

Spinner Jeffrey Vandersay dominated the Indian batting unit in the second ODI as he picked up a six-wicket haul, while in the third match, he picked up two, and 21-year-old Dunith Wellalage picked up five. The visitors struggled against spin throughout the series and could never show dominance, and that according to Rohit made the difference.

Citing examples of Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis, Rohit explained that they scored quite a few runs on the squares and were smart with their batting, which the Indian players weren’t. He acknowledged the mistakes his players made and lauded the Lankan spinners for being effective with the ball throughout the series.

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“They were consistent with sweeps, taking their chances. There weren't a lot of runs scored down the ground. They didn't use the feet as much as we expected. It was about using sweeps and piercing that deep square leg and midwicket field. That is something we failed to do as a batting unit. We didn't play enough sweeps, reverse sweeps, or paddle sweeps, and used our feet too much. That was the difference,” Rohit was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

“If you look at Kusal Mendis and Avishka Fernando today, they got a lot of runs square of the wicket. They were using the turn, and sweeping, making the fielder move left and right. They were smart with how they batted and we were not. All in all, we need to admit where we have made mistakes, we didn't dominate against spin. On such wickets, you need to dominate a bit and the Sri Lankan spinners had consistently kept us under pressure in all three games,” he added. 

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India will play three more ODIs against England before featuring in the Champions Trophy, which is slated to take place in February and March.