A 'second-string Indian team', as described by former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga, proved too strong for Sri Lanka in the first One-Day International.
Led by Shikhar Dhawan, the young Indian side chased down a victory target of 263 with 7 wickets and 80 balls to spare.
The match witnessed some important milestones being set and new records being made. Rajneesh Gupta takes a look at some of them.
Shikhar Dhawan led India for the first time in his 143rd match. Only two players have appeared in more ODIs before captaining India for the first time in a One-Day International.
Most matches before captaining India for the first time in an ODI
| Mts | Player | Opponent | Venue | Date | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 217 | Anil Kumble | England | Chennai | 25-01-2002 | Won |
| 171 | Rohit Sharma | Sri Lanka | Dharamsala | 10-12-2017 | Lost |
| 142 | Shikhar Dhawan | Sri Lanka | Colombo RPS | 18-07-2021 | Won |
| 138 | Rahul Dravid | Zimbabwe | Rajkot | 14-12-2000 | Won |
| 129 | Ajay Jadeja | Kenya | Bangalore | 20-05-1998 | Won |
| 119 | Sachin Tendulkar | Sri Lanka | Colombo RPS | 28-08-1996 | Lost |
| 111 | Krish Srikkanth | West Indies | Sharjah | 13-10-1989 | Lost |
| 111 | Sourav Ganguly | West Indies | Singapore | 05-09-1999 | Lost |
| 104 | Virat Kohli | Sri Lanka | Kingston | 02-07-2013 | Lost |
| 100 | Gautam Gambhir | New Zealand | Guwahati | 28-11-2010 | Won |
Prithvi Shaw gave India a dazzling start as India raced away to 57 in the first five overs of their innings, with Prithvi scoring 43 of them. The young lad got out in the sixth over, but his innings of 43 off 24 balls (Strike Rate: 179.16) is one of the most whirlwind innings by an Indian opener in this format.
In fact, only Virender Sehwag has managed a better strike rate in an innings of 40 or more for India while opening the innings!
Highest strikerate in an ODI by an Indian opening batsman
(min.40 runs)
| SR | Player | Runs | Balls | Opponent | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 218.18 | Virender Sehwag | 48 | 22 | Sri Lanka | Colombo RPS | 09-08-2005 |
| 185.00 | Virender Sehwag | 74 | 40 | Pakistan | Visakhapatnam | 05-04-2005 |
| 184.37 | Virender Sehwag | 59 | 32 | Bangladesh | Mirpur | 12-06-2008 |
| 179.16 | Prithvi Shaw | 43 | 24 | Sri Lanka | Colombo RPS | 18-07-2021 |
| 177.27 | Virender Sehwag | 78 | 44 | Hong Kong | Karachi | 25-06-2008 |
| 170.73 | Robin Uthappa | 70 | 41 | West Indies | Chennai | 27-01-2007 |
| 170.37 | Krish Srikkanth | 46 | 27 | Sri Lanka | Mumbai | 17-01-1987 |
Shikhar Dhawan celebrated his elevation to the captaincy by scoring a match-winning unbeaten knock of 86. Only one Indian player -- Sachin Tendulkar -- has scored more runs on ODI captaincy debut for India. Take a look:
Highest scores on ODI captaincy debut (for India)
| Score | Player | Against | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110 | Sachin Tendulkar | Sri Lanka | Colombo RPS | 28-08-1996 |
| 86* | Shikhar Dhawan | Sri Lanka | Colombo RPS | 19-07-2021 |
| 67 | Ajit Wadekar | England | Leeds | 13-07-1974 |
| 50 | Ravi Shastri | Pakistan | Indore | 27-01-1987 |
| 50 | Ajay Jadeja | Kenya | Bangalore | 20-05-1998 |
| 49 | Kapil Dev | Sri Lanka | Amritsar | 12-09-1982 |
During the course of his innings Shikhar aggregated his 6,000 runs in this format, thus becoming the tenth Indian and 63rd player in the world to accomplish this feat.
Dhawan's feat of taking only 140 innings makes him the fourth quickest to reach this mark.
Fastest to 6,000 runs in ODIs
| Inns | Player |
|---|---|
| 123 | Hashim Amla (SA) |
| 136 | Virat Kohli (Ind) |
| 139 | Kane Williamson (NZ) |
| 140 | Shikhar Dhawan (Ind) |
| 141 | Viv Richards (WI) |
| 141 | Joe Root (Eng) |
| 147 | AB de Villiers (SA) |
| 147 | Sourav Ganguly (Ind) |
Sri Lanka is one of Shikhar's most favourite opponents. He has now aggregated 1,069 runs against them with four hundreds and six fifties.
It took Shikhar only 17 innings to aggregate 1,000 runs against the island nation, making him the fastest among all batsmen to reach this landmark against Sri Lanka.
Fastest to 1000 ODI runs vs Sri Lanka
| Inns | Player |
|---|---|
| 17 | Shikhar Dhawan (Ind) |
| 18 | Hashim Amla (SA) |
| 20 | Sourav Ganguly (Ind) |
| 21 | Quinton de Kock (SA) |
| 22 | Brian Lara (WI) |
| 22 | MS Dhoni (Ind) |
Ishan Kishan, making his ODI debut, played a scintillating innings of 59 runs off 42 balls. Earlier this year, Ishan had scored 56 off 32 on his Twenty20 International debut against England.
Ishan is now one of the only two players to have scored a fifty on both T20I and ODI debut, joining the ranks with South African Rassie van der Dussen.
Players scoring a fifty on both ODI & T20I debuts
| Player | Debut | Score (Balls) |
|---|---|---|
| Ishan Kishan | T20I debut : v Eng, Ahmedabad, 14-03-2021 | 56 (32) |
| ODI debut : v SL, Colombo RPS, 18-07-2021 | 59 (42) | |
| Rassie van der Dussen | T20I debut : v Zim, East London, 09-10-2018 | 56 (44) |
| ODI debut : v Pak, Port Elizabeth, 19-01-2019 | 93 (101) |
It took Ishan only 33 balls to race to his fifty, which makes it the second fastest fifty by a player on his ODI debut.
Interestingly, the record is held by another Indian -- Krunal Pandya -- who scored a 26-ball fifty against England earlier this year.
Fastest ODI fifty by a debutant
| Balls | Player | Score | For | Vs | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Krunal Pandya | 58* | India | England | Pune | 23-03-2021 |
| 33 | Ishan Kishan | 59 | India | Sri Lanka | Colombo RPS | 18-07-2021 |
| 35 | Roland Butcher | 52 | England | Australia | Birmingham | 22-08-1980 |
| 35 | John Morris | 63* | England | New Zealand | Adelaide | 01-12-1990 |
| 37 | Ben Hollioake | 63 | England | Australia | Lord's | 25-05-1997 |
By a strange quirk of fate, it was also Ishan's birthday. A total of 30 players (including four other Indians) have scored a fifty on their ODI debut. Ishan is the only one to do so on his birthday.
Indian players scoring a fifty on their birthday
| Player | Score | Opponent | Venue | Date | Birthday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vinod Kambli | 100* | England | Jaipur | 18-01-1993 | 21st |
| Navjot Sidhu | 65* | West Indies | Mumbai WS | 20-10-1994 | 31st |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 134 | Australia | Sharjah | 24-04-1998 | 25th |
| Yusuf Pathan | 50* | England | Indore | 17-11-2008 | 26th |
| Ishan Kishan | 59 | Sri Lanka | Colombo RPS | 18-07-2021 | 23rd |
India have now registered 92 wins against Sri Lanka in the ODIs, which is the joint-most for a side against a particular opponent.
Australia (v New Zealand) and Pakistan (also v Sri Lanka) have also recorded 92 wins. India may soon have the record on their own.
Most wins against a particular opponent in ODIs
| Wins | Matches | For | Vs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 92 | 138 | Australia | New Zealand |
| 92 | 155 | Pakistan | Sri Lanka |
| 92 | 160 | India | Sri Lanka |
13 teams have played ODIs against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka with a combined tally of 90 wins and 155 losses.
India are the only team to have registered more wins than losses vs Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka! (29 wins and 27 losses in 62 games now).
