India, the world’s No. 1 ODI team in the ICC rankings, suffered a crushing 110-run defeat against Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI of their series on August 7 at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.

Rohit Sharma’s India crumbled under pressure, managing just 138 runs in reply to Sri Lanka’s 248, to suffer a humiliating and rare defeat in the bilateral series against the Islanders. This crushing loss not only handed India a rare defeat in the ODI series but also added Indian captain Rohit Sharma to an unwanted list of captains.

Rohit Sharma joins unwanted list after ODI series loss to Sri Lanka

Rohit has now become the third Indian captain to lose a bilateral ODI series against Sri Lanka, joining Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin. Former Indian captain Azharuddin had achieved this embarrassing record in 1993 when he led the team to a 1-2 defeat, and then the legendary Men in Blue led by Tendulkar suffered a 0-3 series defeat against Sri Lanka in 1997.

Now, Rohit Sharma has made a shock entry into the unwanted record books. This 2-0 defeat in the ODI series brought to an end a remarkable 27-year run during which India had never lost a bilateral ODI series to Sri Lanka.

Notably, the first ODI on August 2 ended in a draw, and then the Islanders made a stunning comeback to win the second ODI by 32 runs, followed by a historic 110-run win in the third and final ODI against Team India in Colombo on Wednesday.

Rohit equals Chris Gayle’s ODI record

Meanwhile, Rohit has equalled West Indies legend Chris Gayle’s record of 331 sixes, making him the second-most sixes-hitting batsman in ODI history. Rohit, who made his ODI debut for India in June 2007 against Ireland, has achieved this milestone in 265 ODI matches, while Gayle hit 331 sixes in 301 ODIs during his career.

The record for most sixes in ODI cricket still belongs to legendary Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi who has 351 sixes to his name in 398 matches. Well, the start for the pair of Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir was promising as the Men in Blue defeated Sri Lanka in the T20I series.

But the Rohit Sharma era and new coach Gambhir were not so lucky, and they lost an embarrassing ODI series 2-0. After the first ODI in Colombo, India’s bowlers gave away more runs and the batsmen failed to score effectively in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka played better than us: Indian captain Rohit Sharma

Things got worse in the final game as India’s bowlers failed to put any pressure on Sri Lanka’s batsmen and the batting line-up left everyone disappointed, thanks to the hosts’ formidable spin attack in Colombo.

After losing the ODI series against Sri Lanka, Rohit Sharma said: “When I am the captain, there is no chance of that happening. Sri Lanka played better than us.”