The Indian team proved everyone's expectations wrong and lost the chance to win the ODI series against Sri Lanka. Everyone was assuming that like the T20 series, the Indian team will beat Sri Lanka in the ODIs too without any trouble, but after two matches of the three-match series, Rohit Sharma's team is trailing 0-1. In the first match, the team could not score 231 runs and it was tied. In the second match, the Indian team could not score 241 runs and lost by 32 runs. In both the matches, the team's batsmen disappointed, who failed against the spinners, but in both the matches, especially in the second ODI, there were two reasons which proved to be a big difference in the performance of India and Sri Lanka and became the reason for the defeat of the Indian team.

Poor fielding by Team India

The Indian team's fielding was not very good in this match. Shreyas Iyer did a run out on a direct hit in the last over, which certainly garnered applause but the real damage was done before that. In the 40th over of Sri Lanka's innings, Shivam Dubey dropped an easy catch of Kamindu Mendis on Kuldeep Yadav's ball. Mendis then added 29 more runs and scored 40 runs.

Not only this, after this catch was dropped, he added 47 more runs in partnership with Dunith Vellalaage. If that catch had been taken, Sri Lanka could have been all out for 200 runs.

In comparison, Sri Lanka took 2 excellent catches which played a big role in the fall of Team India's wickets. Firstly, Pathum Nissanka took a long run at backward point and took a stunning diving catch of captain Rohit Sharma. Then Mendis brought the team back by taking a stunning one-handed catch of Shubman Gill at slip.

Failure to get the lower order out

Everything was almost the same in the first and second matches except for the tie.

In both the matches, Sri Lanka lost 6 wickets before 150 runs. In the first ODI, 6 wickets fell at 142 runs (34.2 overs) and in the second at 136 runs (34.5 overs). Despite this, not only did Sri Lanka play the full 50 overs, but the team was also not all out. Both times Dunith Vellalaage troubled the Indian bowlers and got good support from the other end.

In the first ODI, Sri Lanka's lower order scored 88 runs after losing 2 wickets, while in the second, they scored 104 runs after losing 3 wickets. On one hand, Indian bowlers failed to get Sri Lanka's lower order out, while India's lower order batsmen failed to repeat it.

It is not that their failure in batting was the reason, but they too could have shown strength like Sri Lanka. In the first ODI, despite losing 2 wickets in 15 balls, not even 1 run could be scored for victory, while in the second ODI, the lower order could only reach beyond 200 runs.

It is not that their failure in batting was the reason, but they too could have shown strength like Sri Lanka. In the first ODI, despite losing 2 wickets in 15 balls, not even 1 run could be scored for victory, while in the second ODI, the lower order could only reach beyond 200 runs.