Team India suffered a massive blow as they lost their three-game ODI series against Sri Lanka. This is the first time in 27 years that India has lost an ODI series to Sri Lanka—the upset of this magnitude that has caused a lot of debate within the cricketing fraternity. The series began with a tie in the first ODI, only for India to fumble the second and third matches and lose out on the series to Sri Lanka.
In the wake of this defeat, former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer voiced his concerns, particularly focusing on the upcoming 2025 Champions Trophy. This point, which Jaffer highlighted, focuses on how too few ODIs have been chalked out for the side prior to the main event. India’s first ODI assignment under the new head coach Gautam Gambhir ended in disappointment, and soon after, Wasim Jaffer reacted to it all on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
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“SL played better cricket and deserve the series win. Doesn’t worry me that India lost a series. Wins and losses are a part of the game. What does concern me though is that India have just 3 ODIs before Champions Trophy,” Wasim Jaffer tweeted, pointing out the challenges ahead.
SL played better cricket and deserve the series win. It doesn’t worry me that India lost a series. Wins and losses are part of the game. However it’s a point of concern that India has just 3 ODIs before the Champions Trophy. #SLvIND
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) August 7, 2024
The third ODI was such that Sri Lanka batted first, putting up a competitive total of 248 runs. In response to it, India’s batting was poor, with the hosts’ bowlers coming up with a fine performance to bowl India out for 138 and win the match by 110 runs.
At the end of it, Indian captain Rohit Sharma acknowledged the better performance of Sri Lanka and the areas that need improvement in his team. Rohit, in his address during the presentation ceremony, credited the victory to the Sri Lankan team and spoke about the shortcomings of India.
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“When you’re playing for India, there’s no complacency. We have to give credit where credit is due; Sri Lanka played better than us. We looked at the conditions; we wanted to take pace off the ball, and that’s why we went with our combination. All in all, we didn’t play good cricket throughout the series, and that is why we stand here. Of course, there were a few positives too, like how the spinners bowled and some of the batters in the middle order. But we lost the series, and I feel there are a lot of areas we need to look at rather than just the positives,” said Rohit Sharma.
With India preparing for the future and getting ready to build a more cohesive and competitive unit going into any major tournament, especially with the limited number of ODIs left before the Champions Trophy, the team has to get all these issues right.
