At the very end, Rohit Sharma stated it best. India needed experience playing matches like the one Sri Lanka provided. It would seem to be a plus if they were successful and reserved a spot to compete for awards. The Asia Cup was always going to be the only truly competitive competition to assess the team’s readiness for the prestigious World Cup that will come after because of what is coming up next and the lack of an elaborate run-in of games.
And it takes a variety of pitches and situations to determine where a club stands. In their opening match against Pakistan, India encountered strong swing and seam. The Super Fours matchup with Babar Azam’s team served as a test for maximising benefits in rather flat circumstances. India returned to the Premadasa Stadium fifteen hours later with a totally different challenge: spin.
The Indian skipper said that he preferred playing on grounds like this. And during the World Cup campaign, he might just receive some, possibly in Chennai (against Australia), Delhi (against Afghanistan), and Lucknow (against England). Therefore, getting ready for such a challenge was essential.
Even though it may seem counterintuitive, India hasn’t always performed well on such wickets in the recent past, especially when up against a reliable left-arm orthodox spinner from the opposition. They were hurt by a Shakib Al Hasan five-fer in Mirpur late last year before Mehidy Hasan pulled off a heist in the low-scorer. Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa shut out India’s batters in Chennai to help the visitors win the series. More recently, Gudakesh Motie tied up India in knots as they lost in Bridgetown.
Before Dunith Wellalage received the ball, Tuesday afternoon in Colombo seemed to be a continuation of the batting comforts India had experienced during the two-day match against Pakistan. He extracted bite and cleaned up Shubman Gill with his first delivery. In a 12-ball stay, Virat Kohli struggled to adjust to the pace of the pitch and chipped a straightforward catch to mid-wicket while attempting to bunt a ball to the legside. Soon after reaching the halfway point, a skidder that maintained low castled Rohit.
The 20-year-old’s five-fer then exposed India’s alleged anxieties with left-arm orthodoxy. Prior to this match and since the beginning of 2021, Kohli had been ejected seven times, with an average ejection rate of 14.87. Ishan Kishan was bowled out five times by players like Bjorn Fortuin (x2), Motie, Keshav Maharaj, and Akeal Hosein, while Suryakumar Yadav, who could seem a match-up choice against the bowling style, had fallen six times. KL Rahul, the only hitter who had not been bowled by left-arm orthodox spin until today, also managed to control the situation during his 44-ball stay for 39 runs.
Axar Patel’s decisive 26-run effort kept India from folding under 200 despite having to bat under the harsher of the two conditions. Axar will replace Shardul Thakur at No. 8 and play a crucial role in the team’s batting proficiency when India anticipates spinning conditions. Despite Rohit admitting that he would have preferred an offspinner in his team for more diversity, it is what has given Axar the nod in the squad over players like Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar.
Axar has had a strong year with the bat, but he has struggled in other formats. His rustiness was evident as he let up 29 runs in five overs on a pitch that Wellalage, Asalanka, Kuldeep, and Jadeja were having a good time. Along with left-arm spin problems, Axar’s rhythm with the ball will also require quick correction. He has only twice in 15 games since the start of 2022 bowled his complete quota of 10 overs.
In the end, though, India will assume that whichever of Axar or Shardul plays will work in a partnership with the other all-rounder – Hardik Pandya – and spare one another from advantageous match-ups. Fortunately for India, a fierce Hardik spell was able to cover up Axar’s absence with the ball just when the game seemed to be slipping away from them, thanks to Wellalage with the bat this time.
India will be well served by the fact that they defeated a tenacious foe and a tight turnaround in front of a partisan and boisterous audience under circumstances extremely dissimilar from those they had previously faced.
The important lessons learned along the route must now be analysed and put into practise.
India
