Gambhir's T20I Success Fails To Translate In First India-Sri Lanka ODI

Gautam Gambhir's strategy, which worked in the T20I series, faltered in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Washington Sundar was dismissed for just five runs off five balls.

The experiment of a right-hand left-hand combination was consistently applied during the T20I series. In the first T20I, Rishabh Pant batted at four after Yashasvi Jaiswal's dismissal. In the second T20I, Hardik Pandya came in at four following Suryakumar Yadav's wicket.

This approach was repeated in the first ODI at R Premadasa Stadium on August 2. With Yashasvi Jaiswal absent from the squad, India started with their regular openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, both right-handers.

Virat Kohli has been India's number three for over a decade. Thus, two right-handers were at the crease after Gill's departure. Left-hander Washington Sundar was promoted to four when Rohit got out.

However, this plan backfired as Sundar was trapped in front of stumps by Akila Dananjaya. From a strong position of 75/0 in 12.3 overs, India slipped to 87/3 in 15.4 overs.

The next two batters were also right-handers. Shreyas Iyer joined Kohli after Sundar's dismissal, and KL Rahul came in after Kohli was dismissed by Wanindu Hasaranga for 24 off 32 balls.

India included two left-handed players who could bat in the first ODI. Rishabh Pant wasn't part of the squad; KL Rahul replaced him. Axar Patel, used as a floater in the T20 World Cup 2024, was promoted up the order.

At the time of publication, India were struggling at 132/5 in 24.2 overs while chasing a target of 231 runs. Axar Patel and KL Rahul were batting with Shivam Dube being the only specialist batter left to follow.