NEWS
Follow UsCharith Asalanka has scripted history in his first ever series as ODI skipper as for the first time in 27 years (9844 days), Sri Lanka have beaten India in a bilateral series.
The last instance of the Lankans beating India in a bilateral series came back in August 1997, where Arjuna Ranatunga’s Men beat India 3-0 in a four-match ODI series. Post 1997, Sri Lanka went 13 series without a win over India, with all but one of the 13 proving to be losses.
Sri Lanka did not start this series as favourites, despite last losing a bilateral series at home back in 2021. That was largely due to India sending a full-strength squad sans Jasprit Bumrah.
But after pulling off a memorable tie in the first ODI, they comprehensively beat the Men in Blue in the final two ODIs to secure a historic series win.
It was spin that proved to be Sri Lanka’s secret to success. Out of the 29 non run-out Indian wickets in the series, a whopping 27 of them were taken by spin, with all of Jeffrey Vandersay, Dunith Wellalage and Asalanka taking more than five wickets.
After the first ODI, Asalanka, in fact, became only the third Lankan skipper in ODI history to take multiple three-fers as captain (after Angelo Mathews and Sanath Jayasuriya).
It’s been a memorable ten days for Sri Lankan cricket. On July 28, the Sri Lankan women led by Chamari Athapaththu won the Women’s Asia Cup for the first time in the country’s history.
Meanwhile, it's not been the greatest of starts to the coaching tenure of Gautam Gambhir, who took over from Rahul Dravid as head coach of the Indian Men's Team last month.
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