Mohali: Handed an embarrassing defeat in the inaugural ODI, a wounded India would look to get even against an inspired Sri Lanka in a do-or-die second game of the three-match ODI series, here, Wednesday.
The loss not only hurt but was also an eye-opener for a team that has been dominant all throughout the long home season.
Proving that the opening day surrender to Sri Lanka pacers at the Eden Gardens was no aberration, the Indian batting stood exposed once again against the moving ball.
Chandigarh won’t be as cold as Dharamsala but the pacers should come into play considering it is another 11:30 am start to the day-night affair. In that case, it will be another test for the Indian batsmen if the home team happens to bat first in a must-win contest.
Barring old war-horse MS Dhoni, the highly-rated batsmen seemed like sitting ducks every time Suranga Lakmal pitched the ball up in the off-stump corridor the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey perished without a fight.
Rohit, leading the side in Kohli’s absence, had promised that the team will learn from Dharamsala debacle and bounce back strongly. He is unlikely to tinker with the playing XI but there is a possibility that Ajinkya Rahane is picked to shore up the inexperienced batting, especially the middle order.
In the bowling department, the worry for India will be the performance of Hardik Pandya, who had leaked runs in the opening game. He is picked as the bowling all-rounder for the South Africa Test series and needs to be at the top of his game ahead of the crucial tour starting next month.
press trust of india
