Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana took a dig at the small boundaries and favorable pitch conditions in India after securing a historic series victory over the Men in Blue. Sri Lanka had clinched the series by defeating the Men in Blue by 110 runs in the third and final ODI, played on August 7 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Sri Lanka won the three-match series against India 2-0, their first bilateral series victory over India since 1997. Spinner Theekshana attributed India’s defeat to their batters’ being accustomed to playing on pitches with good bounce and small boundaries, which gave them an advantage on Sri Lanka’s spinning tracks.

“India typically plays on good pitches with short boundaries when at home. We were confident that if the Premadasa pitch offered even a hint of spin, our skilled spinners could exploit that to our advantage. In fact, the domestic pitches here tend to have similar characteristics, which our batters are well-equipped to handle,” stated Theekshana.

India’s batting struggles against spin were on full display in the series, as they lost a staggering 27 wickets to spin—the most by any team in a three-match bilateral series. Sri Lanka’s spin trio of Jeffrey Vandersay (8 wickets), Dunith Wellalage(7 wickets), and Charith Asalanka (6 wickets) proved too much for the Indian batters, who were unable to neutralize the threat posed by the home team’s spinners.

Despite strong opening performances from captain Rohit Sharma, who scored 58 (47), 64 (44), and 35 (20) in the three ODIs, the Men in Blue were unable to successfully chase down target scores of 231, 241, and 249 in those matches.

India’s poor performance led to a rare series defeat, further undermining their preparations for the Champions Trophy 2025.