India’s all-rounder Washington Sundar has downplayed the team’s batting collapse in the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka in the ongoing series. The first ODI ended in a tie when India could not over the line in the run-chase of 231 despite a 75-run opening alliance from Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill.
In the second ODI, Rohit and Gill added 97 runs in the run-chase of 241 but once again the visitors’ middle-order failed to show any fight and they were bundled out for 208 to suffer a 32-run loss.
India’s middle-order batters have failed to come up with a collective effort and they will look to come up with a better show against the Sri Lankan spinners. The Colombo pitch has provided assistance to the spinners but India will want a better effort from their batters
Washington Sundar said as quoted by PTI, “We are quality players of spin. We’ve always played in these kinds of wickets, even at home, in Test matches, and in different formats. Even in domestic cricket, we play a lot of games in such wickets. And we know a lot of our players have done really well, especially in the middle order, batting against spin. So it’s just a matter of finding a way, their own individual self, and trying to get the job done.”
“Everyone knows it’s quite a challenging wicket. Obviously, the Indian team has always put its hands up, especially when the challenge arises. And that’s when we’ve been very good, both with bat and ball, and we’ve come out flying colours out of the challenging situations,” Sundar added.
India lost the second ODI and Sundar reckons the third ODI will present an opportunity for them to win crucial situations.
“It is an opportunity for us to go out there and put our hands up and win those critical situations. Obviously, with the big tournaments coming up, we will be in similar situations and it will be important to find ways as to what we can do to win those critical situations especially in similar conditions against quality spin attack,” the all-rounder commented.
The third ODI between India and Sri Lanka will be played at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Wednesday.
