Team India Skipper Rohit Sharma seemed to be heartbroken over his team's 32-run defeat against hosts Sri Lanka in the first ODI of the three-match series at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, August 4.
With a target of 241, India were bundled out for 208 for 42.2 overs. Jeffrey Vandersay was a serious bowling threat for the Men in Blue as he dismantled the visitors' batting line-up with his six-wicket haul and conceded just 33 runs with an economy rate of 3.3 in 10 overs
Rohit Sharma led India's batting with a captain knock of 64 off 44 balls, while Axar Patel and Shubman Gill contributed with innings of 44 and 35, respectively. Despite the best of their efforts, India fell just 33-run short of achieving the target.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Rohit Sharma admitted to have been hurt for losing a match. He added that his team failed to play consistent cricket.
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"When you lose a game, everything hurts. It's not just about those 10 overs. You have to play consistent cricket and we failed to do that today." India captain said.
"Little disappointed but these things happen." he added.
Rohit Sharma's dismissal led to collapse in India's batting. The Men in Blue were 97/1 when they lost four wickets in Shubman Gill (35), Virat Kohli (14), Shivam Dube (0) and Shreyas Iyer (7) for 36 runs and the visitors were reduced to 133/5. KL Rahul had a poor outing as he was dismissed for a 2-ball duck and India were further collapsed to 147/6.
Axar Patel led India's batting and played a gritty innings of 44 off 44 balls. However, Patel's dismissal at 185/7 turned the tables on the Men in Blue and the pressure fell on Washington Sundar, who was dismissed for 15 at 190/8.
India fell 33-run short of achieving 241-run target despite having 46 balls remaining, ending their innings 208 all-out.
'you always feel disappointed': Rohit Sharma
India skipper Rohit Sharma expressed his disappointment for not helping Team India crossing the line despite his brilliant performance with the bat. He emphasized the importance of scoring more runs in the powerplay.
"The reason I got 65 is because of the way I batted. When I am batting like that, there's a lot of risks taken. If you don't cross the line, you always feel disappointed. I don't want to compromise on my intent." Rohit said.
"We understand nature of this surface, it gets really tough in the middle overs. You have to try to get as many as possible in the powerplay. We weren't good enough. Don't want to look too much into how we played." he added.
The first match of the ongoing ODI series between India and Sri Lanka ended in a tie after Charith Asalanka picked one wicket when the visitors required just one run off 14 balls chase 235-run target.
After losing the 2nd ODI, India will look to draw the series when they take on Sri Lanka in the third match at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Wednesday, August 7.
