On Wednesday, Sri Lanka secured a 110-run victory against India in the 3rd ODI match in Colombo. With this win, Sri Lanka clinched the series 2-0, marking their first bilateral ODI series win against India in the last 27 years. The last time India lost a bilateral ODI series to Sri Lanka was in 1997 when the Sachin Tendulkar-led team suffered a 3-0 defeat in Sri Lanka.
After their defeat in the 1997 series, India played 13 consecutive bilateral series against Sri Lanka without losing any. However, the streak finally came to a halt as the Rohit Sharma-led side failed to draw the series. Throughout the series, Indian batters struggled to counter the spin bowling, which will be a concern for India. The high-profile Indian team was bowled out for just 138 runs while chasing 248 runs at the R Premadasa Stadium.
However, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma isn’t much concerned about India’s batting woes against Sri Lanka spinners. Rohit Sharma after the series loss said, “I don’t think it is a concern (spin problems). But it is something we have to look at individually and as a gameplan. It is a joke, when you are playing for India there is never going to be complacency. When I am captain there is no chance of that. But you have to give credit to good cricket. Sri Lanka played better than us.”
Now, the Indian cricket team will have a 43-day break before their next series. India will next play a 2-match Test series against Bangladesh starting on September 19. This series will be followed by a 3-match ODI series between them.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka is set for a bigger challenge as they head to England. Sri Lanka will play a 3-match Test series against the Ben Stokes-led side commencing on August 21.