Underperforming Sri Lanka begin ODI series as underdogs

Flashback – Sri Lanka’s last ODI series win over India came in 1997, when they secured a 3-0 clean sweep at home

• Not beaten India in a series for 24 years

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

India has been so dominant in bilateral one-day international (ODI) contests against Sri Lanka that one has to ask the question, when was the last time Sri Lanka won an ODI series against their formidable opponents?

To get that answer one has to roll back the years to 1997, it was 24 years ago that Sri Lanka last defeated India in an ODI series, when they whitewashed them 3-0 at home. Since then, India has simply steamrolled Sri Lanka in all one-day bilateral series, showing total dominance.

Three members of Sri Lanka’s 1997 winning unit are today sitting in the Technical and Advisory Committee to Sri Lanka Cricket, namely Aravinda de Silva, who is the chairman, Roshan Mahanama and Muttiah Muralitharan.  

The only other occasion Sri Lanka won an ODI series against India was in 1993 when they emerged winners 2-1 at home.

The last time the two countries squared off in a bilateral ODI series was four years ago in 2017, when Sri Lanka lost 2-1 in India, and again in the same year the last time Sri Lanka hosted India they were thrashed 5-0.

Of the 18 bilateral contests these two countries have played, since the first in 1982, India has won 13 of them to Sri Lanka’s two, with three ending in draws.

Thus, Sri Lanka begin the three-match series, starting at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Sunday 18 July as undoubtedly underdogs, with little hope of turning tables on their more illustrious opponents who, despite the loss of a few of regular stars (who are on duty in England), still pose a formidable threat.

Indeed, a few may have reservations of the side India has sent to Sri Lanka, some even terming it a ‘B’ team, but this is far from the truth – as a struggling Sri Lanka side are likely soon to find out. Only nine members of the 20-strong squad, led by destructive opener Shikhar Dhawan, have not played in an ODI, while they all have plenty of experience in T20 cricket having featured in the IPL regularly.

Sri Lanka’s recent track record in ODI cricket is poor to say the least, having lost their last three series to England, Bangladesh and West Indies (all away). The only comfort they can draw is that their last home ODI series played in 2020 against West Indies, ended in a 3-0 win. But on this occasion, they will be without some of their top performers of that series, namely Dimuth Karunaratne (who captained the side), and the veteran trio of Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis and Thisara Perera. Kusal Perera, who also played a part in that win is doubtful for the Indian series, struggling with a shoulder injury which he has aggravated during the tour of England.

Although India sits at no. 4 and Sri Lanka at no. 9 in the ICC ODI rankings, the positions of both teams in the ICC Men’s World Cup Super League, which will determine the teams qualifying for the 2023 World Cup, is not all that rosy.

India lie in ninth place with 29 points (3 wins, 3 losses), which is an unusual position for them, while Sri Lanka languish in 13th with 13 points (1 win, 7 losses). Thus, India are certainly not going to take the series against Sri Lanka lightly as they will be looking for as many points as possible – a 3-0 clean sweep will straightaway leapfrog them into second place behind England – with each win carrying 10 points. From Sri Lanka’s viewpoint, in a worst-case scenario they must win at least one game in the series to be in the quest for a place in the top eight in the table, which would give them automatic qualification to the 2023 World Cup.

All three ODIs will be played under lights at the R. Premadasa Stadium. The second and third ODIs will take place on 20 and 23 July.