India’s bowling coach, Sairaj Bahutule, stated that his team will keep giving their top-order hitters bowling opportunities since they can act as a “surprise element” for the opponent.
In the first ODI, which finished in a draw here on Friday, Shubman Gill was given the opportunity to roll his arm against Sri Lanka. Bahutule suggested that this will be the way forward, despite the fact that the opener conceded 14 runs in his one over.
“I think our batters are good bowlers as well, to be honest. You know their primary skill is batting, so at times, they don’t focus much on their bowling. But they have the skills,” said Bahutule in the post-match press meet.
Charith Asalanka, the captain of Sri Lanka and their best batsman, bowled 8.5 overs and finished with returns of three for thirty, including the wickets of Shivam Dube and Arshdeep Singh in two consecutive balls, which allowed his team to steal a tie.
To support his argument, Bahutule cited the bowling performances of Rinku Singh and Suryakumar Yadav during the T20I match against Sri Lanka.
“You might have seen in the T20Is…Rinku and Surya contributed with the ball. So, an opportunity was given to Shubman here. It’s going to be an all-rounder’s game in the coming days.
“So, if one or two (batsmen) from the top-order can bowl it will definitely help the team, of course, depending on pitch conditions and situations.
“Also, it will be a surprise element to the opposition, if a batter can bowl. So, moving ahead there will be ample opportunities for batters to bowl,” he explained.
Bahutule stated that after getting off to a brilliant start, the visitors may have attempted to establish stronger alliances.
“To have a tie in ODI is always exciting. Yeah, we should have got that one run and finished off the match. Nevertheless, I thought we bowled really well.
“We did bat well in patches, and we could have had few partnerships that would have taken us (home) with less wickets going,” he said.
Bahutule admitted that the Lankan spinners made full use of the pitch’s characteristics.
“I think the nature of the pitch and the way they bowled…Hasaranga and Asalanka executed their skills very well.
“We tried our best to get into the partnerships, and Shivam (Dube) also batted well and contributed. But yes, we could have put in that one extra effort of scoring that single run.”
The former leg-spinner for India claimed that the squad ought to have taken advantage of Rohit Sharma’s explosive 58 off 47 balls to get off to a strong start.
Before the rot started, it enabled India reach 75 in 12.4 overs.
“The start given by Rohit was fantastic, and at one stage it looked like we wouldn’t lose too many wickets. It (the way Rohit batted) was important when the ball was hard and coming onto the bat. I think it was his first ODI innings after the (50-over) World Cup.
“It didn’t look like there was a break. He takes on the responsibility, sets the tone against any opposition, any pace attack. He is very positive in his intent.”
Bahutule rued the fact that Sri Lanka managed to add a few extra runs after being reduced to 142 for six.
“They had a partnership after we got them down to 160 for six, maybe we could have got them for 15-20 runs less. But overall, I think the bowlers did well. Arshdeep and Siraj began well and Shivam bowled well on a wicket which was slightly helpful to the spinners.
“I think spinners – Washi, Axar and Kuldeep – contributed well. To restrict them to 230 was, I think, a good effort,” he added.
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