Sri Lanka defeated India by seven wickets in the third and final T20I on Thursday to seal the series 2-1. In what was a complete domination by the hosts, the bowlers did the job for the Islanders as they restricted India to a paltry total of 82.
Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga recorded his career-best figures (4/9) and guided his side to victory. It was Sri Lanka’s first-ever series win over India in T20Is.
After India’s series loss, former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria could not himself from blaming India captain Shikhar Dhawan for the defeat. He termed Dhawan’s decision to bat first in the series decider as a wrong move.
“When you have Bhuvneshwar Kumar batting at No.6, why didn’t you win the toss and opt to bowl first? The wicket at Premadasa helps spinners and you could have tried to bowl first and restrict Sri Lanka to under a hundred,” he said on his Youtube channel.
“When you have such a long bowling line-up, there is an advantage if you bowl first and restrict the opposition. It was poor captaincy from Dhawan,” Kaneria added further.
Indian batsmen are considered one of the best players of spin, but against the likes of Hasaranga and Akila Dananjaya, Dhawan & Co. struggled to score runs.
The cricketer-turned-analyst felt that Indian batters gifted their wickets to Hasaranga.
“Hasaranga was brilliant, but the Indian batsmen played a lot of awkward shots. Hasaranga demolished the Indian batting. He proved why he is the No.2 ranked T20I bowler. But I think the batsmen gifted wickets to him. If they would have played him carefully and knocked him around for singles if they would have scored 130-140 with the kind of bowlers they had, they could have been more competitive,” Kaneria signed off.
