MATCH STORIES
Follow UsCould there have been a more explosive and chaotic start to Gautam Gambhir’s stint as the head coach in ODI cricket?
Prior to today, India had gone nearly six full years without tying a game of ODI cricket.
Gambhir takes over the reins and, all of a sudden, BAMMMMMM. India have gone ahead and tied an ODI after 2108 days. Only their second ever tie against Sri Lanka in history, and their first against this opponent in 12 years.
What’s it with Gambhir and ties? He’s only been here for four games and India have already tied two of those. On the back of their super over win in the third T20I in Pallekele, the tie here in Colombo makes it back-to-back ties for India in international cricket.
Talk about a frenetic start.
Three nights ago in Pallekele, the Men in Blue tied a game that they should have lost. India had no business even taking that game to the last over, let alone tying it and winning it in the super over. But Suryakumar Yadav and Rinku Singh did some dark magic and got India home against all odds.
Tonight in Colombo, the situation was pretty much the opposite. Needing 1 off 15 balls with a set Shivam Dube at the crease, India had no business not getting over the line. It would probably would have been okay had they lost by 15-ish runs after Kuldeep Yadav got out, but once Dube got those big hits away, India *had* to get over the line.
But then, somehow, they ended up snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, thanks to two extraordinary moments. One, a remarkable review from Sri Lanka and then an absolutely inexplicable decision from Arshdeep Singh to go for a slog across the line, against an off-spinner, with the team needing 1 off 14 balls.
But then again, only so much blame can be pinned on Arshdeep. He is, after all, a No.11 batter. He is bound to make terrible decisions. Admittedly, he ended up making arguably the worst of all decisions but it was not due to Arshdeep’s brain fade that India ended up tying - and not winning - the contest.
When the dust settles, India will look back on terrible conversion from their top and middle-order as the reason for their failure to win the contest.
On the night, a total of SIX Indian batters crossed the 20-run mark. And yet only one of them went on to score more than 35. That was skipper Rohit Sharma, and he, too, was guilty of throwing his wicket away while being set.
But while the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli, Axar Patel and Dube were all undone by some good bowling, the one batter who architected his own downfall, and in turn got Sri Lanka back into the game when the clash looked done and dusted, was KL Rahul.
Axar and Rahul got together when the side were in a precarious position at 132/5. They still needed 99 more with only one more recognized batter left in the shed.
The pair batted with great maturity — up until the moment Rahul did what he ended up doing.
With 42 runs needed — and five wickets in hand — Rahul went for a slog sweep against the turn, off the bowling of Wanindu Hasaranga. Sri Lanka’s shoulders were down prior to this dismissal but Rahul’s moment of madness got them right back into the contest, and gave them some much-needed belief.
That mini opening was eventually all the hosts needed. They pounced on it, fought admirably and came back storming to tie the contest.
Credit has to be given to Sri Lanka too. In particular Charith Asalanka, who showed A+ captaincy skills on the night. Realizing that spin was king on the surface, Asalanka used 37.5 overs of spin. He bowled 8.5 overs of himself, and his arm proved to be the ‘Hand of God’ on the night as he scalped three huge wickets: Axar, Dube and then finally Arshdeep.
Bilaterals can at times lack relevance and be boring. This tour still does not carry much significance either, but it’s been far from boring.
If the next two games turn out to be half as entertaining as the last two games of this tour have been, then boy we’re in for a treat.
If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out — big time. Play Fantasy on Cricket.com NOW! Download the App here.
