Rohit Sharma openly blames his Indian batsmen after series loss to Sri Lanka; warns them of removal from team

Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma has revealed the harsh truth behind the team’s embarrassing 110-run defeat in the third ODI, leading to their humiliating 2-0 series loss on Wednesday, August 7, at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.

In the wake of a crushing blow to Indian cricket, Rohit admitted that the tourists faltered under the pressure of spinning pitches, lacking the courage and strategic approach needed to tackle challenging conditions throughout the three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka.

Rohit Sharma blames lack of courage as India suffered humiliating ODI series loss to Sri Lanka

The Indian captain also admitted that his team failed to adapt and put Sri Lanka under pressure, ultimately leading to their downfall in the recently concluded ODI series in Colombo. Despite the massive setback, he said that India is focused on addressing the issues.

Rohit Sharma said at the post-match press conference: “On such wickets, you have to try and keep having left-right combinations. At the end of the day, it’s important to take on the game on such pitches, where the ball is spinning and scoring is tough.

You need to be a little brave. I don’t think we were brave enough throughout the series to put them under pressure a little bit. We were behind in that aspect. But these things happen, so I do not want to look too much into it. We will address the concerns for sure.”

Meanwhile, Indian cricket has been shaken to its core as the team’s struggle against spinning wickets and controversial batting order changes come under intense scrutiny.

Rohit said that the team’s inability to maintain momentum and adapt to the spin-friendly conditions has been a recurring issue, which has now been highlighted by their recent performances on the Sri Lanka tour.

Indian captain defends batting order blunders and admits struggles against spin

Furthermore, the captain has acknowledged these persistent problems, emphasizing the need for individual strategies and potentially reshuffling the squad to better handle diverse pitch conditions.

With the team’s current approach falling short, Rohit said that their focus is now on drastic changes to ensure they can perform across all types of playing surfaces, not just the favorable ones.

Rohit signed off by saying, “We’ve had these issues in the past as well. We’ve had issues with keeping the tempo of the game. It is all about individual plans—how they want to take the bowlers on. We know where the problems are. We have to talk about it and let the players know that this is what we want.

If we have to be a little different in choosing the personnel, we have to do that, unfortunately. We’ll try and see how we can be a good team in all kinds of conditions, not just on good pitches or seaming pitches.”

Notably, India will next face Bangladesh in a two-match Test series at home in September 2024. Rohit finished the ODI series against Sri Lanka as the leading run scorer with 157 runs in three games at an average of over 52 and a strike rate of over 141.