India’s performance under Gautam Gambhir’s leadership has been a rollercoaster ride. Starting strong with a T20I series win, they faltered in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, succumbing to the spin prowess of the home team.
The likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli struggled against the young Lankan spinners on a challenging Colombo pitch. The home team’s bowlers exploited the conditions well and outplayed the Indian batsmen.
Sri Lanka went on to whitewash India in the ODI series, highlighting the team’s struggles in the early stages of Gambhir’s tenure. The question now arises whether Indian batters have a weakness against spin bowling.
The Sporting News delves into this issue and analyzes the team’s performance.
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Are Indian batsmen vulnerable to spin bowling?
India’s batting lineup found it hard to counter the Sri Lankan spinners, getting dismissed by them in all three ODI matches. Spinners accounted for 90% of the wickets taken by Sri Lanka in the series.
| Event | Wickets lost to spinners |
|---|---|
| ODI series | 09 wickets |
| T20I series | 27 wickets |
Records set by India in the series defeat to Sri Lanka
Most wickets lost to spin: India surrendered 27 wickets to Sri Lankan spinners in the recent ODI series, setting a new record. Their previous worst was losing 19 wickets to Pakistan in 1996.
27 wickets to spin: Sri Lankan spinners claimed 27 wickets against India in the ODI series, setting a new record for most wickets taken by spinners in a three-match bilateral series. This surpassed Bangladesh’s previous record of 21 wickets against Pakistan in 2011.
27 years: Interestingly, Sri Lanka’s victory over India in the ODI series marked the first time in 27 years. The last time Sri Lanka defeated India in an ODI series was in 1997, under Arjuna Ranatunga’s captaincy.
MORE: Former fast bowler criticizes India’s decision to bench KL Rahul in the series decider