"Ridiculous is an understatement" - Former India pacer slams move to drop KL Rahul for 3rd ODI vs Sri Lanka

Former India pace bowler Dodda Ganesh has questioned the decision to drop KL Rahul for the must-win ODI against Sri Lanka and pick the likes of Shivam Dube ahead of him. Ganesh described the move as ridiculous while pointing out that the right-handed batter captained India in the format not long ago.

Sri Lanka thumped India by 110 runs in the third and final one-dayer at the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Wednesday, August 7, to clinch the series 2-0. Batting first, the hosts put up 248-7 on the board. Dunith Wellalage then claimed 5-27 in 5.1 overs as India were bundled out for 138 in 26.1 overs.

The Men in Blue made two changes to their playing XI for the must-win clash. While Rishabh Pant came in for Rahul, Riyan Parag replaced Arshdeep Singh. Taking to his X handle, Ganesh slammed the Indian management for their decision to drop an experienced player like Rahul for the do-or-die clash.

"Only in a crazy universe will u have Dube and Riyan Parag playing ahead of KL Rahul, in a decider ODI. Don’t understand what’s happening. He was leading India just 3 ODIs ago and all of a sudden, one failure & he is out of the playing XI. Ridiculous is an understatement #SLvIND," Ganesh wrote in his post.

The 51-year-old former Karnataka pacer also warned that dropping players after just one or two failures could lead to a sense of insecurity among them.

"If a player who’s had great success in the last year can be dropped after technically one failure, it creates a sense of insecurity amongst players. Well, you can’t build cricket teams like this. Who would’ve thought that India would lose to SL so convincingly? #SLvIND," Ganesh wrote in another post.

Like in the first two ODIs, India got off to a confident start with the bat courtesy of their skipper Rohit Sharma (35 off 20). However, once he was dismissed, they crumbled again. Virat Kohli was out for 20, Pant was stumped for six, Shreyas Iyer fell for eight, while Dube was trapped lbw for 9.

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How KL Rahul performed in the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka

Rahul was picked as the keeper-batter for the first two one-dayers against Sri Lanka. He scored 31 off 43 in the first ODI, adding 57 for the sixth wicket with Axar Patel (33 off 57). The match ended up being a tie.

In the second ODI, the 32-year-old was bowled for a second-ball duck by Jeffrey Vandersay. The right-handed batter tried to drive a length ball, but the ball hit his gloves and went on to dislodge the stumps.