After a 25-day break that seemed to last forever, Indian fans finally witnessed the Men in Blue return to international cricket in the 1st ODI vs Sri Lanka on a pleasant Sunday afternoon. A limited-overs series that was originally slated to begin on July 13th had to be postponed and rescheduled to July 18th due to COVID-19 cases in the Sri Lankan camp. Sri Lankan batting coach Grant Flower and the team analyst GT Niroshan tested positive for the Delta variant of the virus, forcing Flower, Niroshan, and the rest of the Sri Lankan squad to go into precautionary isolation at a hotel in Colombo.
When the hosts of the island nation finally clashed against the Indian ODI side, they faltered at crucial junctures in the game to allow a comprehensive victory for the Men in Blue. After newly-appointed skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and chose to bat first, the Sri Lankan openers walked out to face the new-ball attack of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar. Several Sri Lankan batsmen, including Avishka Fernando (33), Minod Bhanuka (27), debutant Bhanuka Rajapaksa (24), Charith Asalanka (38), and skipper Dasun Shanaka (39) got good starts but failed to convert their scores and play big knocks. Thanks to a late blitz from Chamika Karunaratne (43 off 35), Sri Lanka managed to put up 262-9 on the board in their allotted 50 overs.
However, a full-blooded assault from young opener Prithvi Shaw (43 off 24) and debutant Ishan Kishan (59 off 42) put the Sri Lankans on the backfoot and made a mockery of the chase of 263. Ably supported by a knock of 26 off 40 by Manish Pandey and another blitz of 31* off 20 by debutant Suryakumar Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan held one end up and steered the Indian chase with a well-paced 86* off 95 deliveries.
Let us now take a closer look at the biggest positives for India from their performance in the 1st ODI:
#5 – Prithvi Shaw’s return to form in international cricket
After 2 consecutive failures in the infamous 1st Test against Australia at Adelaide in December 2020, Prithvi Shaw was dropped from the playing 11 for the next match. Even though the entire batting unit collectively failed in that fateful 2nd innings, where India put up only 36-9 in 21.2 overs, the manner of Shaw’s dismissals exacerbated the problem. After getting clean-bowled to deliveries from Starc and Cummins, it seemed that Prithvi Shaw had glaring deficiencies in his batting technique. He was given the proverbial rap on the knuckles, dropped, and eventually sent back to domestic cricket to regain form and confidence.
After a brilliant start to his international career, Shaw was severely disappointed by his performances in Australia and about losing his place in the national side. In the 2021 Vijay Hazare Trophy, he worked on his shortcomings and led from the front as Mumbai skipper by slamming an unfathomable 827 runs in just 8 innings at an average of 165.4, replete with 4 centuries and 1 half-century. His highest score in the 2021 season was a glorious 227* against Puducherry. Prithvi Shaw, who was no stranger to setting the cricketing world on fire, was back. In the first leg of the suspended IPL 2021, Shaw scored 308 runs in just 8 innings at an impressive average of 38.5 and a strike rate of 166.48.
Fans and cricket experts all over the world were looking forward to watching Prithvi Shaw make a comeback to international cricket in this Tour of Sri Lanka, and they weren’t disappointed.
Prithvi slammed 9 fours opening the batting and raced to 43 runs off just 24 deliveries, overshadowing his veteran opening partner and captain Shikhar Dhawan in the process. The Sri Lankan bowlers had no answers to his exquisite timing and powerfully struck shots. It was only when Prithvi was struck on the helmet by a Dushmantha Chameera bouncer that he had a lapse in concentration. After a brief concussion check, Prithvi Shaw returned to face the spin bowling of Dhananjaya de Silva, but his attempted slog was caught at long-on by Avishka Fernando.
This stunning batting display from Shaw was a stark reminder of things to come. Shanaka’s men need to be wary and formulate better plans to tie Shaw down as the former U-19 skipper is in the midst of a brilliant purple patch. He can go on to make even bigger scores and torment the Sri Lankan bowlers in the upcoming matches.
#4 – Shikhar Dhawan’s mature captain’s knock
If you pick Shikhar Dhawan in any side, you know that you have an excellent, aggressive opening batsman who can take the game away from the opposition. Even when partnering with Rohit Sharma at the top of the order in international matches for India, it is usually Dhawan who attacks the bowlers from the start while Rohit takes some time to settle in. That is why it came as a surprise that Dhawan curbed his natural attacking instincts during the 1st ODI and instead played the anchor’s role.
After being appointed as the limited-overs captain for the Tour of Sri Lanka, it was widely acknowledged that Dhawan will make for a good captain and lead from the front with a mature head on his shoulders. Since Prithvi Shaw, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav were going bonkers at the other end during the majority of Dhawan’s stay at the crease, he decided to shoulder the responsibility of holding up one end and keep rotating the strike regularly. Dhawan made sure that he stayed in the middle until the end of the innings and shepherded India’s chase of 263 with a composed 86-run knock off 95 balls. Dhawan became the fastest player to hit 1000 ODI runs against Sri Lanka, achieving the milestone in a record 17 innings. He played according to the situation, taking singles and doubles, and hitting boundaries whenever needed to end with 6 fours and 1 six during his captain’s knock on captaincy debut.
#3 – Resurgent form of India’s premier limited-overs spin duo
A few years ago, the duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal was inseparable. After the exit of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja from the limited-overs sides, Kuldeep and Chahal had become India’s premier spinners in both ODIs and T20Is, producing one match-winning performance after the other. However, after the 2019 ODI World Cup in England, Kuldeep and Chahal slowly fell out of favour with the selectors and the Indian team management, leading to their exclusion from the playing 11 in several matches.
Ravindra Jadeja’s breathtaking performances meant that he became a regular in India’s playing 11 across formats, and only one of Kuldeep or Chahal would play. The spin duo’s performances in IPL 2021 didn’t help their cause either. While Chahal picked up only 4 wickets in 7 matches at an economy of 8.26 for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kuldeep Yadav couldn’t instill enough confidence in the Kolkata Knight Riders team management to play even one game for his IPL franchise. This undoubtedly dented Kuldeep’s confidence and Chahal’s inability to pick up wickets also frustrated him.
When India failed to pick up a single wicket during the first 9 overs of the powerplay in the 1st ODI against Sri Lanka, captain Dhawan introduced the leggie Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack. It proved to be a masterstroke as Chahal struck on his very first delivery. Opener Avishka Fernando, who had looked so good until that point, chipped the ball straight into the hands of Manish Pandey at cover and Yuzvendra drew first blood for India.
After Kuldeep Yadav was brought into the attack, he struck on the 1st delivery of his 3rd over, picking up debutant Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s wicket. Just 2 balls later, Kuldeep struck again with a tossed-up delivery that lured Minod Bhanuka into attempting a drive. The ball flew straight into the hands of Prithvi Shaw at slip, and Kuldeep had gotten rid of both set batsmen at the time in the same over.
In his last over of the innings, Chahal returned to pick up the wicket of the Sri Lankan skipper, Dasun Shanaka after a lofted shot ended up straight in the hands of Hardik Pandya at long-on. With 2 important wickets apiece, both Chahal and Kuldeep will be confident of repeating their heroics in the upcoming matches. Their return to form augurs well for the Indian limited-overs side, who were badly missing the middle-over wickets from their spin duo.
#2 – Suryakumar Yadav’s ability to adapt to different batting positions
When you look at Suryakumar Yadav’s batting, you notice an uncanny effortlessness in the manner in which he scores runs in pressure situations. A large chunk of Suryakumar’s runs have come in pressure situations for his IPL franchise Mumbai Indians. His batting aggregate numbers for the past 4 years in IPL read 512 runs in 2018, 424 runs in 2019, 480 runs in 2020, and 173 runs in 2021.
In his international debut series in the 2021 T20I series against England, Suryakumar slammed a stunning 57 off 31 with 6 fours and 3 sixes in just his 2nd match after not getting an opportunity to bat in his debut game.
Suryakumar Yadav proved that he was not fazed by the big stage and adapted to international cricket with ease, taking on quality bowlers like Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Chris Jordan, Ben Stokes, and Sam Curran. He followed this up with another excellent knock of 32 off 17 in the 5th T20I against England.
Suryakumar’s performances earned him a place in the ODI squad and he performed brilliantly on ODI debut. When he walked out to bat at No. 5 in the 31st over with just 44 runs needed to win, he could have taken it easy and stitched a steady partnership with skipper Dhawan. However, seemingly inspired by Shaw and Kishan’s breathtaking display from earlier, Suryakumar also took on the Sri Lankan bowlers, powering his way to 31* off 20 deliveries. He even hit Wanindu Hasaranga for 3 consecutive fours in the 34th over of the run chase. Despite batting down the order at No. 5, as opposed to his usual slot at No. 3, Suryakumar proved that he possesses the capability of being a floater and adapting to not only different match situations but also different batting positions. His exuberant batting and fearlessness bode well for the Indian team who are looking to finalize the members of their squad for the T20 World Cup to be held in UAE this year.
#1 – Ishan Kishan’s blazing knock on ODI debut
The world had already witnessed the destructive avatar of young wicket-keeper batsman Ishan Kishan during his exploits for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL and during his debut international series in the 2021 T20I series against England. In his debut T20I match, Ishan slammed a four off the first delivery he faced in international cricket. He went on to score 56 off 32 deliveries to set up a brilliant victory for India in the 165-run chase.
After the carnage from one former U-19 skipper ended in the 1st ODI vs Sri Lanka, another former U-19 skipper walked to the crease on his birthday. Ishan Kishan had told his teammates in the dressing room that he would slam the first ball he faces for a six regardless of where it was pitched. And boy did he keep his promise. Just after Prithvi Shaw’s dismissal, Kishan walked out and with a vicious swing of the blade, hammered Dhananjaya de Silva’s first delivery to him down the ground for a six. As if that wasn’t enough, Kishan drilled the very next delivery through point for a four. On his ODI debut, Ishan Kishan was on 10* (2).
He continued his assault on the Sri Lankan bowlers and blasted his way to an exquisite 59 off 42 with 8 fours and 2 sixes. Kishan scored the 2nd-fastest half-century on ODI debut off just 33 balls and also became the 2nd player after Robin Uthappa to score 50+ on both ODI and T20I debuts.
Ishan Kishan’s aggressive batting will prove to be priceless for the Indian team in the upcoming matches as he can come in the middle order and provide the much-needed acceleration in the middle overs. With 5 limited-overs games left on the tour, we can only sit and hope for even better and longer innings from the young Jharkand wicket-keeper batsman and that he’ll win his team more matches in the future.
What’s next?
India are slated to take on Sri Lanka in the 2nd ODI on 20 July and will be hoping for a repeat of these excellent performances by their players to take an unassailable 2-0 lead and seal the 3-match ODI series.
