Team India fielding coach R Sridhar confirmed on Saturday that India will continue their experiments in the 3rd ODI against Sri Lanka despite receiving flak from every quarter due to their change in the middle order. Chasing a modest total of 236 to win, the visitors started off brilliantly in the 2nd ODI and was comfortably placed at 109/ when Mystery Spinner Akila Dananjaya spun the web around the Indian batsmen and reduced them to 131/7. The spinner bagged 6 wickets by conceding only 11 runs in just 21 deliveries.
He took 4 of his 6 wickets with his wrong uns which the Indian batsmen failed to pick at all. When he was introduced in the attack it showed that he was an off break bowler but when he started unleashing those unplayable googlies the star studded Indian batting line-up was left scratching their head. Bhuvneshwar Kumar who scored a match winning half-century stated that he played Dananjaya as a leg-spin bowler which was the reason behind him picking the mystery spinner well than the other top order batsmen.
“Akila Dananjaya bowled brilliantly in the last game. We take that forward, and we’ll make sure we won’t repeat the same mistakes going forward,” Sridhar was quoted as saying during a pre match press conference ahead of the 3rd ODI at Pallekele. It was an interesting call by captain Virat Kohli when he sent the likes of Kedar Jadhav and KL Rahul ahead of him which didn’t work as Akila Dananjaya ran through the middle order.
“We will try out different players in different slots to get the best exposure to get the best out of each player. That’s the endeavor of the team management,” Sridhar said.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya was a doubtful starter for the 3rd match after sustaining cramps during the 2nd ODI but Sridhar confirmed that he will be a part of the Playing XI in the 3rd ODI.
“On Thursday, Hardik Pandya was cramping. He’s perfectly alright now. He should be ready for the next game,” Sridhar signed off.