Nidahas Trophy 2018, 1st T20I: 5 things that went wrong for India

Playing against Sri Lanka has become a habit for India recently, what with the two neighbours having met quite often over the last one year. Under Rohit Sharma, the Lankan-slaying batsman himself, a new-look side was deemed favourites for the tournament, but could not close in on a win in the opening game.

By the time Shardul Thakur was midway through the 19th over, the match was already in Sri Lanka's lap, courtesy a quickfire cameo from Thisara Perera towards the end.

Here are five points that will find their way into Rohit Sharma's personal diary, five reasons why the Men in Blue ended up on the losing side:

#1 Poor support for Shikhar Dhawan by the top-order

India's ultra-aggressive mode of batting in T20Is has been one of the focal points of their approach in the shortest format, and it had seemed to be working pretty well in South Africa. However, the plan fell flat on its face when Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina were back in the dressing room in no time, the latter getting bowled to a full toss.

Although Shikhar Dhawan was stuck at one end, and kept going hammer and tongs, the same kind of platform could not be laid in the powerplays, as it could have if one of Rohit or Raina had stayed along.

#4 Inability to accelerate after the 12-over mark

Despite losing two wickets early in the innings, the Indian team would have expected to get around 200, especially after the end of the 12-over mark, with the score reading 100-2. Given that the Indian team was batting deep, and had players like Vijay Shankar and Washington Sundar in the lower middle order, the goal would not have looked unachievable.

However, the innings tapered off thereafter, and the sluggish knock from Rishabh Pant did not help the cause. Manish Pandey stayed put with a 35-ball 37, but at the end of the half-way mark, the Indian team would have genuinely felt the pinch of finishing around 15 runs short.

#3 Giving runs aplenty in the powerplays

The wafer-thin experience of the Indian bowling line-up was exploited piece by piece by the Sri Lankan top-order, and Kusal Perera in particular. Kusal Mendis came and went, but Perera was in no mood to relent, taking Shardul Thakur to the cleaners by looting 27 runs off only one over.

The dent that was made by the onslaught was difficult to wipe off, and although the Indian bowlers tried to bring in a twist towards the end, the damage had already been done. Thakur had a torrid night, going for 42 runs off the 21 balls he bowled.

"The bowlers tried everything they did, but sometimes it doesn't come off as it has to," Rohit Sharma said, conceding the lack of experience in the bowling line-up in the post-match ceremony.

#4 The missing X-Factor of the fifth bowler

It is understandable that the newly formed combination of Indian bowlers, in the absence of the bigwigs, would take time to settle down. The biggest takeaway for them will be the need to identify a fifth bowler who could somehow prise out wickets in the middle overs, especially when one of the frontline bowlers has an off day.

With Shardul Thakur having a torrid day with the ball, Vijay Shankar, on debut, was given overs in the middle, but could not effect any damage with the Lankans looking in cruise control. Suresh Raina also chipped in with his off-spin, but it wasn't anything more than an entry into the scorer's sheet, as he went for 14 runs in two overs.

A wicket or two from the others could have helped the combination of Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar put further pressure on the Sri Lankans, and could have helped derail their chase.

#5 Poor bowling at the death

Yuzvendra Chahal removed Upul Tharanga with Sri Lanka requiring 39 off 32, and the game was still on, especially with Dasun Shanaka struggling to put bat on ball. The situation would have compounded further had Thisara Perera, their experienced T20 campaigner, been unable to bring out his golf-style strokes at the end.

Jaydev Unadkat, short on experience but bathing in IPL cash, was chosen to bowl the 18th over, but could not get his lines right, feeding Perera full deliveries that the left-hander hammered down to put the run-rate in place, just in time.

By the time Shardul Thakur came to bowl the penultimate over, the die was already cast, and the rest of the runs were lapped up quickly. If only a certain Jasprit Bumrah was in the line-up!