Rohit Sharma opens up on ’complacency’ after ODI series loss against Sri Lanka: ’When I am captain...’

The Indian cricket team, under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, lost the third ODI match at iconic Colombo's R Premadasa Stadium against Charith Asalanka-led Sri Lanka on 7 August by a whopping 110 runs.

With Wednesday's win, Sri Lanka made history by defeating India in a bilateral ODI for the first time in 27 years. The last time Sri Lanka won a series against India was in 1997.

During the post-match presentation ceremony, when asked about complacency from the Indian side, the Indian skipper said, "I don't think it is a concern. But it is something we have to look at individually and as a game plan. It is a joke. When you are playing for India, there is never going to be complacency. When I am captain, there is no chance of complacency. But you have to give credit to good cricket. Sri Lanka played better than us."

He added, “We looked at the conditions and went with the combinations. There are also guys who need to be looked at, hence the changes. There are a lot of areas we need to look at rather than the positives. These things happen, series lost is not the end of the world, you will lose an odd series here and there but it is about how you come back after the loss.”

Earlier in the three-match ODI series, India managed to tie the first match but lost the second match by 32 runs.

India vs Sri Lanka, 3rd ODI:

Sri Lanka posted a total of 248/7 in 50 overs on Wednesday after winning the toss against India.

Sri Lanka's Avishka Fernando scored 96 off 102 balls, and Kusal Mendis (59) and Pathum Nissanka (45) also contributed.

Riyan Parag took three wickets for India, while Mohammed Siraj, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav clinched one wicket each.

Chasing a target of 249 runs, India were all out in 138 runs in just 26.1 overs. Skipper Rohit Sharma scored 35 off 20 balls for India, and Washington Sundar hit 30 off 25 deliveries. Apart from them, no other batter could cross 20 runs, including Virat Kohli.

For Sri Lanka, Dunith Wellalage took five wickets, Maheesh Theekshana and Jeffrey Vandersay took two wickets each, and Asitha Fernando took one wicket.

Stats-wise, Sri Lanka's Dunith Wellalage has become the first spinner to take five wickets in an ODI against India on more than one occasion, as he picked a fifer, 5/40 in Colombo on 2023 and 5/27 in Colombo on 2024.

Asitha Fernando was awarded the player of the match, while Dunith Wellalage won the player of the series.