India B team talk adds to Sri Lanka pressure after Pakistan's loss

Even without the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, it is going to be difficult for Sri Lanka to stop this Rahul Dravid-coached India.

There’s nothing more embarrassing than a full-fledged national team losing to the opponent’s B team. It only makes the team’s weaknesses even more glaring. Ask Pakistan. They faced this ignominy in the three-match one-day series against England.

The Indian cricket team training in Sri Lanka. (BCCI)

A day before the series, several Covid positives in England’s ODI squad forced the cricket board to select a new-look squad with nine uncapped players. Ben Stokes, originally due to be rested, was called up and was the only regular member available. Against a full-strength Pakistan, the concern was whether the Stokes-led side would be competitive.

The ODI world champions needed not have worried about the depth in their ranks. The visitors were defeated 3-0, the final nail hammered in the third ODI on Tuesday. The Pakistan batsmen flopped in the first two games, but what made the third straight defeat hard to take for their supporters was that it was their famed bowling line-up that let them down.

Skipper Babar Azam smashed a career-best 158, helping set a target of 322. England batsmen, led by James Vince’s 102 off 95 balls and Lewis Gregory’s 77 off 69 balls, chased down the total with three wickets and two overs to spare. England were 165/5 in the 24th over before Vince’s stand of 129 with Gregory shifted the momentum.

For Babar Azam, it will be hard to take as he had produced his best batting show with a 14th century (he is fastest to the mark, in 81 innings).

In the first ODI, Pakistan were 141 all out and England chased down the target in 21.5 overs. The hosts won the second game by 52 runs.

The team from the sub-continent has no time to regroup. They face a more daunting task in the T20 matches as all England first-choice players are back, named in the squad on Wednesday. Regular skipper Eoin Morgan is one of the nine members included, having completed the required period of self-isolation following the ODI series against Sri Lanka.

Stokes has dropped out while Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Jos Buttler all return. Some who did well in the ODIs have also been picked, like Saqib Mahmood, who was Player-of-the-Series in the Pakistan ODIs after claiming nine wickets at 13.66 in the three matches.

SRI LANKA’S CHALLENGE

But for a last-minute postponement of the India series after some Sri Lanka squad members tested positive, the England-Pakistan ODIs would have been pushed to the background in this part of the world. The first India-Sri Lanka game was to have been played in Colombo on Tuesday. The series (ODIs and T20s) will now start on July 18.

Despite former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga’s criticism of playing an India B team, he would know his team faces the same challenge as Pakistan. Even without the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, it is going to be difficult for Sri Lanka to stop this Rahul Dravid-coached India.

Sri Lanka are not the same force they were when Ranatunga played in the 1990s. They are in the middle of a horrible run, after been routed in England. They lost all three T20s and the first two ODIs before rain saved them from another heavy defeat in the final game at Bristol after being bowled out for 166.

With major stars in England for the Test series starting on August 4, the Indian team in Sri Lanka is being led by opener Shikhar Dhawan and features half-a-dozen uncapped players—Devdutt Padikkal, Chetan Sakariya, Nitish Rana, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Varun Chakravarthy.

In a show of the official broadcaster, vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar felt the experience and confidence gained by the youngsters after doing well in the Indian Premier League will help do well in Sri Lanka.

“We have good players and they have experience of IPL; playing T20 for so many years, they have done well for their teams,” the swing bowler said.

“It will be beneficial for the team… Young players who have come for their first tour after doing well in IPL, if they do well here (in Sri Lanka) it will be great for their confidence.”