Rohit Sharma makes unwanted record as captain after India's shambolic ODI series loss to Sri Lanka

India, the world's No. 1 ODI team in the ICC Rankings, suffered a crushing 110-run defeat against Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI of their series on August 7 at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.

Rohit Sharma's India crumbled under pressure, managing only 138 runs in response to Sri Lanka's 248, to suffer a humiliating and rare bilateral series loss to the Islanders. This crushing defeat not only handed India a rare ODI series defeat but also added the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma to an unwanted list of skippers.

Rohit Sharma joins unwanted list after ODI series loss to Sri Lanka

Rohit has now become the only third Indian skipper to lose an ODI bilateral series to Sri Lanka, joining Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin. The former Indian skipper Azharuddin had made this embarrassing record in 1993 when he led the team to a 1-2 defeat, and then the legendary Tendulkar-led Men in Blue suffered a 0-3 series loss to Sri Lanka in 1997.

Now, Rohit Sharma made a surprising entry to the unwanted record books. This 2-0 ODI series defeat ended a remarkable 27-year streak during which India had never lost a bilateral ODI series to Sri Lanka.

Notably, the first ODI on August 2 ended in a draw, and then the Islanders made a stunning comeback to win the second ODI by 32 runs, followed by a historic 110-run win in the third and final ODI against Team India in Colombo on Wednesday.

Rohit equals Chris Gayle's ODI record

Meanwhile, Rohit has matched the West Indies legend Chris Gayle's record of 331 sixes, making him the second-highest six-hitter in ODI history. Rohit, who made his ODI debut for India in June 2007 against Ireland, has achieved this milestone in 265 ODI matches, while Gayle smoked 331 sixes in 301 ODIs during his career.

The record for the most sixes in ODI cricket still belongs to the legendary Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi, who has 351 sixes to his name in 398 matches. Well, the start of the Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir pair was promising, as the Men in Blue whitewashed Sri Lanka in the T20I series.

But the era of Rohit Sharma and the new head coach Gambhir didn’t fare that well, scumbling to an embarrassing 2-0 ODI series loss. After the first ODI in Colombo, India’s bowlers gave away more runs, and the batters failed to score effectively in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka played better than us: Indian captain Rohit Sharma

Things went worse in the final game, as the India bowlers couldn’t put pressure on Sri Lankan batters and the batting line-up left one and all disappointed, thanks to the hosts’ formidable spin attack in Colombo.

After losing the ODI series to Sri Lanka, Rohit Sharma said: “When I am captain, there is no chance of that. Sri Lanka played better than us."