India made a complete mess of the first ODI as Sri Lankan bowlers made Indian batting line up surrender miserably. It was only Dhoni who stood out given his experience and calmness while the inexperienced middle order fell like a bunch of school kids playing cricket for the first time.
The absence of Virat Kohli and the inexperience of the middle order emerged as a nightmare for Rohit Sharma, the acting Skipper. India could only put 112 on the board and in fact were 29/7 at one stage.
Lakmal adds insult to injury
Suranga Lakmal made survival impossible for the Indian batsman. He had the spell of his life at Dharamshala and grabbed 4 wickets with pace bowling of a different league. The Sri Lankan bowler added great insult to India’s injury at Dharamshala.
The pacer claimed that he could have bowled India well under 50. Lakmal said that after India was 29/7 they thought that they could restrict the opposition to less than 40.
Lakmal said that had the Lankans got MS Dhoni early then India could have been bowled out at a cheap score. Lakmal praised Dhoni for batting beautifully and averting the great embarrassment India would have faced if they were bowled out within 50 runs.
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Now the two teams will meet in Mohali for the Second ODI and to regroup the team and lift the morale would be a big job for Rohit Sharma. India must win the match to survive in the series otherwise Sri Lanka would create history on Indian soil. Rohit must pick his playing eleven wisely and most probably Rahane would make a comeback in the middle order.
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