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Sri Lanka is unable to get any luck. Their preparations for the ODI leg have been greatly hindered by the absence of no fewer than five of their fast bowlers due to injury or illness. They are still reeling from the almost comical nature of the defeat in the final Twenty20 International, one that handed India a 3-0 series sweep – and possibly a multitude of nervous breakdowns to those watching.
Because of this, Mohamed Shiraz, who has never played a test match, and Eshan Malinga, who is an all-around player, have been called up to potentially help Asitha Fernando, the squad’s only other fit seamer, and Chamika Karunaratne.
The one bright spot in all of this is that it might, if only momentarily, divert their attention from the past two occasions these teams faced off in a 50-over match, in which Sri Lanka scored 105 runs in total. In fact, Sri Lanka has only reached triple digits three times in their last four ODI matches.
Nevertheless, their best bet may be to not place too much importance on the outcomes of these next games. They did not make it to the 2025 Champions Trophy, therefore their next significant ODI competition is the World Cup in 2027. For the time being, it may be best to concentrate on the process and try to lay the necessary groundwork.
Although Sri Lanka has won three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) this year—against Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Zimbabwe—their most recent victory came against India in July 2021. A five-match losing run against India had come to an end with that outcome; in fact, Sri Lanka’s past three One-Day International (ODI) wins over India have all involved ending five-game losing streaks.
This is merely the next phase in India’s meticulously planned route to win the Champions Trophy. Now that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are back together, the team’s main goal is to work out the wrinkles and find a cohesive unit. It is also possible that they are secretly expecting for a more difficult task than the T20Is presented.