The result of the recently concluded India tour of Sri Lanka was on expected lines with India clinching the test series, the one-day series as well as the lone T20 game. But if any one says you that he predicted a 9-0 result, I am sure he is lying. Forget about the 9-0 result, the fact that all the matches were comfortable wins for India sets a huge difference between the two sides. On one hand, the series establishes India as the giant in this part of the world and on the other shows the building phase of Sri Lanka is surely not going anywhere.
If it was Dhawan and Pujara who took the opportunity with both hands in the test series, then it was Kohli’s and Sharma’s who scored the bulk of the runs in the one-day series. Both Dhawan and pujara scored 300 plus runs in the 4 innings that they batted in the test series while Kohli and Sharma did the same in 5 innings in one day international. On the bowling front the tried and tested pair of Ashwin and Jadeja did most of the damage in test matches and then Bumrah in one-day series proved yet again that he is the talent that India should take care of if they want to win the 2019 world cup. Ashwin and Jadeja took 17 and 13 scalps in 6 and 4 innings receptively in the test series while Bumrah with 15 scalps in 5 matches was the highest wicket taker by a distance in the one-day internationals.
There were 2 most important outcomes of the 3-0 whitewash for India – the 1st one without any doubt was Dhawan’s reassurance at the top. He carried his one day form to the test series as well and once again pushed his contention for the openers slot in the test matches as well. With Vijay coming in for the next series, India now will have 3 inform openers. The 2nd one which everyone was eager about was the fast bowling all-rounder in Hardik Pandya that India was looking for in test matches. His performance with both bat and ball did stand out. He provided his caption with crucial breakthroughs and scored some handy runs with the lower order. The team has invested heavily in him and now it looks like the investment is paying dividends. If a team wants to do well outside the sub continent, they need a Strokes or a Morris in their lineup and for India to proof their metal outside Asia, they will need Pandya to perform. till now he has done his reputation no harm and we all hope that he can build on his performance in the future.
Coming to the one-day series everyone knew India is going to win but there were 2 major points of discussions before the start of the series. Everyone was eager to see how KL Rahul performs in the middle order and perhaps for the first time in the last decade Caption Cool had to prove that he is an automatic selection. On any day he will be an automatic selection in any ODI team but such are the times that even the greatest finisher has to prove himself. So for the first time, India experimented with KL Rahul at No. 4 slot. Without any doubt, Rahul is a talented batsman full of stroke play but with 28 runs from 4 innings, he couldn’t adjust to the change in his batting position. And with Manish Pandey scoring a fifty in his comeback game, the Rahul experiment at No. 4 is certainly not a success. Once a finisher always a finisher, yes, I am talking about MS DHONI. With 162 runs in 4 innings and 4 not outs, he once again proved that no one can manage the pressure of finishing a game better than him at the moment. Srilankans had no answer to his defense in the 2nd ODI and to his late hitting in the 3rd ODI. Everyone India is hoping that he can once again Finish off in Style at Lords on 15th July 2019.
The next test for the men in blue will be against the Kangaroos, who must be coming with a lot of confidence after their test win against Bangladesh. Lets hope we get to see an aggressive series and tough competition from 17th September.
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