Former Pakistan captain and cricket pundit Ramiz Raja on Monday (July 19) shared his views on the first ODI between India and Sri Lanka that took place on July 18 in Colombo.
He was disappointed with Sri Lanka’s flop show after India won the first ODI by 7 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.
Taking a jibe at Sri Lanka for their poor performance in the first ODI, which was turned out as a one-sided affair in favor of India, Raja questioned the hosts’ below-par batting performance as they failed to gather a competitive total even on a flat pitch in Colombo.
The Indian cricket team chased down a target of 263 runs in just 36.4 overs to win the ODI series opener by 7 wickets on Sunday.
While pointing out the “difference between the skills” of India and Sri Lanka, the former Pakistan cricketer said the first ODI seemed like a University team vs School team match where a strong university team India dominated the school team, Sri Lanka.
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Raja said on his YouTube channel, “India vs Sri Lanka seemed like a University team vs School team match. Such was the difference between the skills, execution, talent, and the ability to understand the game. This is a very challenging situation for Sri Lankan cricket because they were playing at home. They prepared a flat pitch for the series opener against India and still ended with an average score.”
Highlighting Sri Lanka’s misery with the bat, he said: “The way Sri Lanka played against spin, it looked like they had no idea how to tackle spin. Historically, Sri Lankan batsmen have dominated the spinners. However, the current lot just does not seem to be on that level yet.”
The commentator continued, “The Sri Lanka batters looked confused after getting a start. They couldn’t understand how to change the gear. And this confusion was created by India’s outstanding bowling performance. India didn’t have to push much as the challenge wasn’t tough.”
He signed off by saying, “The game was one-sided. Sri Lanka produced a flop show. I don’t know whether watching them in the future would be interesting. Everything about them seemed in slow motion – a team is playing against a side that felt like no challenge was being thrown at them.”
