“Cricket teaches life!” exulted one of the world’s best and Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin after he helped India secure one of the unlikeliest of Test match draws against Australia in the third match at Sydney earlier this year, battling against severe back pain, wary of the thinnest batting line-up that was to follow. It indeed was a once in a generation report by the pair of Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari holding back the raging Australian bowling attack at bay for more than two hours to script history in the annals of Indian cricket.
The recent events in Sri Lanka around the inexperienced but extremely talented young Indian squad, under the tutelage of Rahul Dravid and leadership of Shikhar Dhawan, would perhaps like to turn to this moment in Indian cricket and the reaction of its heroes in the hour of a humiliating defeat.
The moment things went awry for the touring party in Sri Lanka was when Krunal Pandya was discovered to have been infected by coronavirus, which forced eight other key Indian players into hotel isolation, leaving the team with the only choice of playing whoever was available.
All that was left was a bare minimum lineup of batting consisting five specialist batsmen, three of whom were making their debuts while the others were burdened by pressure. The bowling attack was indeed in a better shape and health but could not have defended a target as low as 81/8 to which India were reduced to in the final T20I.
The likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Rana and even Sanju Samson have a long road ahead of them provided they learn the right lessons and carry the right attitude having tasted such a chastening defeat so early in their careers.
The likes of Padikkal, Gaikwad and Rana did not do much wrong in the first couple of matches in the shortest format which can be incredibly unpredictable and cruel. But what they are currently experiencing is the weight of a heavy defeat which does not come by often — it is not often that an Indian cricket team is restricted to a poor score of 81/8 with only four boundaries being hit throughout the innings and a highest scorer is someone who rarely gets to bat — Kuldeep Yadav made 23*.
Indeed, Samson was the biggest disappointment for India in the series but every player needs time and opportunity to prove his mettle and maybe the Kerala wicketkeeper-batsman needs a longer rope.
Samson got an opportunity in the shortest format six years after making his ODI debut and given the promise that he carries, it would be daft to write him off after only three matches.
Sri Lanka are going to play the qualification round of the upcoming T20 World Cup and the series victory which they recorded after eight attempts against India on Thursday night will certainly serve them a huge confidence factor going ahead.
What Sri Lanka certainly lacks is the habit of winning and some tweaks in their cricket but overall they are not a team which can be written off lightly.
In Wanindu Hasaranga, Sri Lanka have one of the most talented players in international cricket. He has plenty of variation in his leg spin bowling and is an animated batsman at the crease who is not really afraid to take risks.
In Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka have a captain who is ready to put his head down and open his mind and ears to learn and listen to anything that is around improvement.
In Minod Bhanuka, Sri Lanka have a bright prospect both at the top of the order as well as behind the wickets provided he keeps polishing his skills and channel the energies in the right way.
There are plenty of talented players in the Sri Lankan ranks and there is absolutely no need for the island nation with a proud cricket history to lose hearts over what has happened in the last 2-3 years.
Hasaranga bowled a spell of a lifetime on Thursday night against vulnerable and inexperienced indenting, bamboozling them with his leg-spinners to return with 4-0-9-4 on his 24th birthday. To top it off, Hasaranga was present in the middle when the winning runs were scored. This was Sri Lanka’s first series win in the format since 2019.
This series will be remembered for a lot of reasons. In the past, India and Sri Lanka may have had some animosities but this series witnessed players sharing a lot of admiration and respect for each other.
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya was seen singing the Sri Lankan anthem, he gifted one of his bats to Sri Lanka all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne, Indian players were seen sharing smiles and jokes with their counterparts throughout the affair, Rahul Dravid was seen speaking with the young Sri Lankan cricketers and their coach Mickey Arthur and the parting shot was captured when India captain Dhawan was seen giving lessons and tips to a young bunch of the Sri Lankan cricketers after they had resoundingly thumped his team.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
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