Captain Rohit Sharma stood out distinctly from his teammates in a gripping low-scoring ODI opener against Sri Lanka on Friday. While the rest of the Indian batsmen struggled against the Sri Lankan spin attack, Sharma’s impressive 58 off 47 balls led his team to 71 runs in the first 10 overs of a 231-run chase. Despite his strong performance, Sri Lanka’s spinners, particularly Charith Asalanka, who took consecutive wickets, managed to secure a tie—the 44th in ODI history.
Shivam Dube’s crucial innings, which included two sixes and a boundary to tie the scores, momentarily seemed to spell trouble for Sri Lanka. However, Asalanka stepped up to ensure a psychological victory for the home team.
Rohit Sharma’s destructive half-century contrasted sharply with the performance of the Indian middle-order, which faltered against the slow bowlers. Although the Indian bowlers had done well to limit Sri Lanka to 230 for 8 on a spinning track, the Indian batting lineup struggled as Sri Lanka's spinners—Wanindu Hasaranga (3/58 in 10 overs), Akila Dananjaya (1/40 in 10 overs), Dunith Wellalage (2/39 in 8 overs), and Asalanka (3/30 in 8.5 overs)—restricted the scoring and took crucial wickets.
On a pitch where Rohit seemed to thrive, KL Rahul’s (31 off 43 balls) typical cautious approach did not aid India’s cause, and his dismissal came without providing a decisive turnaround. Virat Kohli (23), Shreyas Iyer (24), and Axar Patel (33) all got starts but failed to capitalize on them.
Rohit Sharma was batting on a different pitch altogether from what the others were. He started off with a monster 88-metre six off the third ball by Asitha Fernando, then pounded debutant Mohamed Shiraz and later batted freely. Even as Shubman Gill (16) fought it out at one end, Rohit was devouring the bowling. But once he was leg-before to Dananjaya while trying to play a slog sweep, the real character of the pitch emerged. Increased turn and variable bounce resulted in further bafflement for the Indian batsmen, with Kohli and Washington Sundar falling to deliveries that misbehaved.
Earlier, Pathum Nissanka and Dunith Wellalage anchored Sri Lanka's innings with intelligent fifties. Nissanka struck 56 off 75 balls, showing focus, while Wellalage made 67 not out off 65 balls, oozing confidence on a pitch that offered some turn after Sri Lanka's captain Charith Asalanka chose to bat first. The start was jittery with Mohammed Siraj removing Avishka Fernando early. Then, Nissanka and Kusal Mendis batted well to hold the innings together. That is when Sri Lanka's habit of losing wickets at the wrong time came into play.
The Indian bowlers bowled well, and the wrong shots were executed by the Sri Lankan batsmen. Mendis went leg-before to Shivam Dube, who made a comeback into ODI cricket after five years. That promised an opening start to the innings at one time 46 for 2, faltered to 101 for 5 at the end of the 27th over.
The young Wellalage, who was fumbling against Kuldeep Yadav initially, showed great character with his resolute back-foot play and aggressive shots. He, along with Akila Dananjaya, ensured Sri Lanka crossed the 200-run mark with 46 for the eighth wicket. Wellalage's maiden ODI fifty proved crucial to that final total.
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