NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka exposed India’s young batsmen’s inability to tackle spin and registered a seven-wicket victory in the deciding third Twenty20 to hand Shikhar Dhawan-led team a 2-1 series defeat. It was leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga (4/9) who helped Lankans restrict India to a paltry 81 for eight.
Former India batsman VVS Laxman said the India’s young batsmen will rue the opportunities given to them in Sri Lanka.
“Sri Lanka have every reason to celebrate their deserved T20 series victory with gusto. They have endured trying times in the recent past, including heavy defeats on their tour of England and the loss of key batsmen due to various reasons ahead of the series against India. Their transition phase since the retirement of legends like Murali, Mahela and Sanga has been long and arduous, and even though this win came against a depleted Indian side, that should take nothing away from Sri Lanka,” Laxman wrote in his column for Times of India.
“From an Indian perspective, some of the young batsmen will rue the opportunities squandered. True, India were reduced to just five specialist batsmen once Krunal Pandya tested positive for Covid and consequently they lost nine players, and pitches for the last two T20s were far from ideal for the format. That said, adversity provides the best platform to exhibit character,” he said.
Laxman also hailed India leg-spinner Rahul Chahar who dismissed both the openers — Avishka Fernando (12) and Minod Bhanuka (18) — and Sadeera Samarawickrama (6) and tried his best tos top Lankans to script a comeback.
“Spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy had decent outings but the one who caught my eye was Rahul Chahar. The leggie was aggressive, attacking and penetrative, traits that should certainly bolster his chances for the T20 World Cup later in the year. What this tour has done is highlighted how much work lies ahead of India’s young batsmen. Among the areas of concern are the inability to convert starts to big scores, and a marked decline in standards while playing quality spin on slow pitches,” Laxman said.
“If anything, the latter has been a problem for a while now. Young batsmen focus so much on power-hitting and playing pace that tackling spin has gone out of fashion. To arrest this disturbing trend, it is incumbent upon coaches at the NCA and those with state teams to impress upon their wards the ingredients required to maneouvre the ball by bringing soft hands into play, among other things,” he said.
Former India batsman VVS Laxman said the India’s young batsmen will rue the opportunities given to them in Sri Lanka.
“Sri Lanka have every reason to celebrate their deserved T20 series victory with gusto. They have endured trying times in the recent past, including heavy defeats on their tour of England and the loss of key batsmen due to various reasons ahead of the series against India. Their transition phase since the retirement of legends like Murali, Mahela and Sanga has been long and arduous, and even though this win came against a depleted Indian side, that should take nothing away from Sri Lanka,” Laxman wrote in his column for Times of India.
“From an Indian perspective, some of the young batsmen will rue the opportunities squandered. True, India were reduced to just five specialist batsmen once Krunal Pandya tested positive for Covid and consequently they lost nine players, and pitches for the last two T20s were far from ideal for the format. That said, adversity provides the best platform to exhibit character,” he said.
Laxman also hailed India leg-spinner Rahul Chahar who dismissed both the openers — Avishka Fernando (12) and Minod Bhanuka (18) — and Sadeera Samarawickrama (6) and tried his best tos top Lankans to script a comeback.
“Spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy had decent outings but the one who caught my eye was Rahul Chahar. The leggie was aggressive, attacking and penetrative, traits that should certainly bolster his chances for the T20 World Cup later in the year. What this tour has done is highlighted how much work lies ahead of India’s young batsmen. Among the areas of concern are the inability to convert starts to big scores, and a marked decline in standards while playing quality spin on slow pitches,” Laxman said.
“If anything, the latter has been a problem for a while now. Young batsmen focus so much on power-hitting and playing pace that tackling spin has gone out of fashion. To arrest this disturbing trend, it is incumbent upon coaches at the NCA and those with state teams to impress upon their wards the ingredients required to maneouvre the ball by bringing soft hands into play, among other things,” he said.
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