Winning a series against India after 27 years the "biggest positive" from SL vs IND ODIs, says Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka

Charith Asalanka picked up six wickets in the SL vs IND three-match ODI Series in Colombo.

Charith Asalanka’s first assignment as the T20I captain of the Sri Lanka cricket team didn’t go well as the hosts suffered a 3-0 whitewash against the Indian cricket team.

But in his first ODI series as the permanent skipper Sri Lanka ended a 27-year wait. The hosts crushed the ICC No. 1 ranked ODI team India in the three-match ODI series. The Asalanka-led side clinched the series 2-0 and registered their first ODI series win over Men in Blue for the first time since 1997.

In the three-match ODI series, the first match ended in a tie. Sri Lanka won the second game by 32 runs. In the third match, the hosts hammered the Indian cricket team by 110 runs.

The Sri Lankan spinners were the main reason the hosts clinched this ODI series. In the series, Sri Lanka’s spinners took 27 out of 30 Indian wickets. The three top wicket-takers in the ODI series were all Sri Lankan spinners: Jeffrey Vandersay (8), Dunith Wellalage (7) and Asalanka (6).

Biggest positive is to win series against India after 27 years: Charith Asalanka

After defeating the Indian cricket team by more than 100 runs in the third ODI match in Colombo, hosts Sri Lanka clinched the series 2-0 on August 7.

Sri Lankan skipper Asalanka said that the biggest positive for his side was to win a series against India after nearly three decades. Asalanka also hailed his spinners who kept India’s middle-order on a leash.

“The biggest positive was winning a series against India after 27 years. The other big positive were the spinners. We had relied on Wanindu Hasaranga, but we’ve had Vandersay and Dunith playing well here too,” Charith Asalanka said.

“On these pitches, until the ball gets a little older, it’s easier to bat, and it takes less spin. What we planned was for someone in the top order to get a big score, and for others around him to play around him and get to a good score. Today that was really successful, as Avishka got to 96, which isn’t easy on a pitch like this,” Asalanka added.

Tried to create a good environment: Charith Asalanka

The Sri Lankan captain also credited interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya for creating a good environment and providing freedom to the players to showcase their talent. Asalanka further added that they took positives from the T20I series even after losing all three T20Is.

“As a team we tried to create a good environment, after talking to the coach. We tried to give a lot of freedom to our players and to show their talent. We don’t put much pressure on them. We identify what the positives and negatives are and we back their strength. If they fail it’s not a problem. If you have that backing you can play against a good team like this. In the T20s though we lost there were positives in our top order. I knew as a captain that when we play to our potential, we can compete against the best,” Charith Asalanka said.

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