Sri Lanka Beats India in Second ODI: Rohit Sharma Reflects on Middle Overs Batting
In the second ODI held in Colombo, Sri Lanka defeated India by 32 runs. Indian captain Rohit Sharma discussed the team’s need to improve their batting during the middle overs but emphasized that he would not change his aggressive batting style.
Match Highlights
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first, scoring 240/9 in their 50 overs. Key contributions came from Avishka Fernando (40), Kamindu Mendis (40), and Dunith Wellalage (39). India’s top bowlers were Washington Sundar (3/30) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/33).
During India’s run chase, Rohit Sharma (66) and Shubman Gill (35) started strong with a 97-run partnership. However, Jeffrey Vandersay’s impressive spell (6/33) led to India’s collapse, and they were all out for 208 in 42.2 overs. Axar Patel (44) was the only middle-order batter to put up a fight. Charith Asalanka also bowled well for Sri Lanka, taking three wickets.
Post-Match Comments
Rohit Sharma said, “When you lose a game, everything hurts. It is not just about those 10 overs of the first powerplay. You have to play consistent cricket and we failed to do that today. I am a little disappointed but these things happen. You have to adapt to what is in front of you.”
He added, “The reason I got 65 is because of the way I batted. When I am batting like that, there is a lot of risks taken. If you do not cross the line, you always feel disappointed. I do not want to compromise on my intent. We understand the nature of this surface, it gets really tough in the middle overs. You have to try to get as many as possible in the powerplay. We were not good enough. Do not want to look too much into how we played. But there will be talks about our batting in the middle overs.”
Jeffrey Vandersay was named ‘Player of the Match’ for his outstanding performance.
Doubts Revealed
ODI -: ODI stands for One Day International, which is a type of cricket match that lasts for one day. Each team gets to bat and bowl for a limited number of overs, usually 50.
Rohit Sharma -: Rohit Sharma is a famous Indian cricketer and the captain of the Indian cricket team. He is known for his powerful batting and has many records in cricket.
Middle Overs -: Middle overs in cricket refer to the period between the 11th and 40th overs in a 50-over match. This is a crucial phase where teams try to build a strong score without losing too many wickets.
Jeffrey Vandersay -: Jeffrey Vandersay is a cricketer from Sri Lanka. In this match, he took six wickets, which means he got six Indian players out.
Collapse -: In cricket, a collapse means that a team loses many wickets quickly. In this match, India lost their players quickly and couldn’t score many runs.
Shubman Gill -: Shubman Gill is a young Indian cricketer known for his batting skills. He started well in this match but couldn’t help India win.
Charith Asalanka -: Charith Asalanka is a cricketer from Sri Lanka. He took three wickets in this match, helping his team win.
Player of the Match -: Player of the Match is an award given to the best player in a cricket match. In this game, Jeffrey Vandersay got the award for his excellent bowling.
