"We failed to.." Rohit Sharma 'disappointed' after India lose 2nd ODI vs Sri Lanka by 32 runs

Indian captain Rohit Sharma scored 64 runs off 44 deliveries in the second ODI.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma accepted that his side failed to play consistent cricket after losing the second ODI match against Sri Lanka by 32 runs at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on August 4.

After being asked to field first, Indian bowlers had a good outing with the ball as they restricted the hosts to 240/9 in 50 overs. The spin trio of Washington Sundar (3/30), Kuldeep Yadav (2/33) and Axar Patel (1/38) didn’t allow Lanka batters to score runs on tricky Colombo pitch.

For Sri Lanka, opener Avishka Fernando (40 off 62 balls) and lower middle-order batter Kamindu Mendis (40 off 44 balls) scored valuable runs for their side, which helped them reach 240.

While chasing, Indian captain Rohit Sharma (64 off 44) continued his fine form in the ongoing three-match series. All-rounder Axar Patel (44 off 44 balls) also played a crucial knock.

But the day belonged to two Sri Lankan spinners: Jeffrey Vandersay (6/33) and skipper Charith Asalanka (3/20), who blew away the Indian batting order and won the match by 32 runs.

When you lose game, everything hurts: Rohit Sharma

After losing the second match of the ongoing three-match ODI series, Indian skipper Rohit admitted that his side failed to play consistent cricket against Sri Lanka.

Speaking about the changes in batting order, Sharma added that it would have been easier for batters to rotate strike in the middle overs with right-left combination. The Indian captain also hailed Sri Lanka spinner Jeffrey Vandersay for taking six wickets in the game.

“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. Little disappointed but these things happen. You got to adapt what’s in front of you. With left-right, we felt it’ll be easier to rotate strike. Credit to Jeffrey, he got six wickets,” Rohit Sharma said during the post-match presentation.

I don’t want to compromise with my intent: Indian captain Rohit Sharma

Rohit once again showed his class on a pitch where most of the batters were struggling to score runs. The Indian captain played a classy knock of 64 runs in 44 deliveries, including five boundaries and four sixes. Sadly, the 37-year-old was dismissed by Lanka spinner Vandersay while attempting to play a high-risk shot.

During the post-match presentation, Rohit clarified that he will not compromise with his intent. The 37-year-old further added that when he is batting, a lot of risks were taken. 

The Indian skipper further explained that they understood the Colombo surface and they knew it would become tough to score in middle overs. So, their main idea was to score as many runs as possible 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. 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. But there’ll be talks about our batting in the middle overs,” Rohit Sharma concluded.

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