IND vs SL: Three reasons why India suffered a dismal ODI series loss against Sri Lanka

Despite having almost a full-strength team, India's dismal surrender in the ODI series against Sri Lanka has come as a major shock.

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and other stars have failed to live up to their expectations, which has been vivid as India suffered a 2-0 defeat in the three-match ODI series. After securing the T20I series 3-0, the struggle of the Indian team in the 50-over format has been a reality check.

After a tie in the first match, India lost the next two games, by the margin of 32 runs and 110 runs respectively. Although it may have come as a shock, India has been outplayed by Sri Lanka in every department in the last two matches.

The reason for India's defeat is multifaceted, and here are three main reasons behind it-

Inability to play Spin

India's inability to play spin is a new problem, as they got bamboozled by the Sri Lankan spinners. Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill and others got visibly exposed against spin and lost their wickets without any resistance. The likes of Dunith Wellalage, Jeffrey Vandersay ran riots in the Indian batting, which must be a huge cause for concern. Also, the Indian team tried to keep on playing expansive shots instead of weathering the storm, which also played a part in their downfall.

A brittle middle-order

Rohit Sharma scored 157 runs in three matches, and after the India captain, the next highest scorer for India is Axar Patel with 79 runs. Rohit took on the bowlers and got good results, but every other frontline batter struggled in the series. The middle-order was fragie and failed to make any significant contribution in the series. Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube and KL Rahul - India's three main middle-order batters scored with an average of 12.67, 11.33 and 15.50 respectively, depicting the story of India's feeble batting display.

Lack of Accountability

Rohit Sharma has to share blame for this component. The India captain was the only player who batted effortlessly in the series, but he kept on giving his wickets in all of those matches. Despite a stormy start, Rohit failed to capitalize any of his fifties to a century.

Rohit's dismissal exposed India's spin struggle and even the likes of Virat Kohli, and Shreyas Iyer batted without any accountability, which is a huge disappointment. Washington Sundar and Axar Patel batted with a better average than Iyer, KL Rahul and Gill - which clearly shows how the top Indian batters failed to perform amid adversities. The lack of composure was also vivid in the first match, when India lost their last two wickets for no run and effectively tied a match from an assured winning state.