In the 53-year history of one-day internationals, there have been only 44 instances of drawn matches. India has been involved in 10 of these, the second-most by any team, following the West Indies with 11. The latest draw for India occurred on Friday at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, where the team failed to chase down 231 against Sri Lanka in the opening ODI of a three-game series. This dramatic collapse left former India captain Virat Kohli and new head coach Gautam Gambhir visibly shocked.
Sri Lanka posted a total of 230 for eight in their innings. India began their chase strongly, with captain Rohit Sharma scoring a quick 33-ball fifty and the openers putting up 71 runs without loss in the first powerplay. However, Dunith Wellalage dismissed both openers in quick succession, and Washington Sundar, promoted to number four, was out after facing just five balls.
India managed to recover twice, first through a partnership between Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, and later between KL Rahul and Axar Patel. Despite these efforts, Sri Lanka continued to take wickets at regular intervals. Towards the end, Shivam Dube brought India back into the game by hitting two sixes and a boundary, leveling the score with 15 balls remaining.
Kohli and Gambhir, who were watching the match together, were visibly excited when Dube hit a boundary off Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka to level the score. Kohli nearly jumped from his seat in applause, patting Gambhir on the back. However, Dube was trapped lbw by Asalanka on the next ball. With one run needed for victory, Arshdeep Singh walked out as the last man. The Indian dugout was ready to celebrate, but Arshdeep, in a moment of poor judgment, went for a big shot and was out lbw, resulting in a tie.
As Arshdeep reviewed the decision, Gambhir and Kohli sat back in disbelief. The Thrid-Empire confirmed three reds as the ball hit the leg stump, sealing the draw for Sri Lanka while leaving the Indian team stunned.
Rohit Sharma reflected on the match, saying, “The scores are gettable, it’s just that you have to bat well to get that score. We batted well in patches. We didn’t have any steady momentum during the game. We started really well with the bat but we knew the game would start after 10 overs once the spinners came in to bowl. We were up in the game at first, but after losing a few wickets, we were down.”
India will look to bounce back in the second ODI against Sri Lanka on Sunday at the same venue.