“After Pakistan, India have also forgotten how to bat against the spinners” – Basit Ali

Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali reckons India has forgotten how to bat against the spinners, just like their neighbouring country. India’s struggle against spin was palpable in the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka.

The first match ended in a tie when India was bundled out for 230 runs. Furthermore, the visitors could not chase down 241 runs in the second game as they lost by 32 runs on Sunday. 

Indian openers – Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma – added 75 runs in the opening game. Subsequently, the opening duo added 97 runs in the second game of the series but the middle order crumbled like nine-pins. Jeffrey Vandersay was the chief destroyer of the Indian innings in the second game, accounting for the top six batters and returning with figures of 6-33 in his quota of 10 overs.

Basit Ali said on his YouTube Channel, “I feel after Pakistan, India have also forgotten how to bat against the spinners. Maybe because the focus was more on T20s. I feel sad seeing Shivam Dube’s dismissal. He couldn’t even read it from the hand. Washington Sundar got out in similar fashion in the first match.”

Ali said Shivam Dube should be kept out of the ODI team and he should first go back to the domestic circuit to improve his game.

He added, “Keep Shivam Dube only for T20s, don’t pick for the ODIs. Or, make him play 50-over matches in domestic cricket first. India’s ODI team cannot be complete without Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja.”

The cricketer-turned-expert urged head coach Gautam Gambhir to pick Rishabh Pant ahead of Shivam Dube.

“Gautam Gambhir is using the wrong combination. If he wanted to use the left-right combo, Axar Patel could have come ahead and then Rishabh Pant could have played. Instead of Dube, play two wicketkeepers.”

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma returned with figures of 58 and 64 runs in the first ODIs but none of the other batters have shown any resistance.

“The first wicket fell on 97, that too when Rohit Sharma got out while playing the reverse sweep. Is Rohit Sharma the only batsman in the Indian team at present? Is there no other batsman? Shubman Gill as usual got out after 30-35 runs. Who is going to take the responsibility? Will we only see the names of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli? What are the other players doing?”

The third ODI between India and Sri Lanka will be played at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Wednesday.