India must learn from past mistakes

Nishad Pai Vaidya, writing in cricketcountry.com, points out India's history of over-rate offences in recent years, and says the Indian team should learn to speed-up proceedings on the field, after MS Dhoni was fined for a slow over-rate in the first ODI against Sri Lanka.

Dhoni & Company haven’t learnt from the past experiences. Considering the number of times he has been cautioned and banned, they should have taken note of their short-comings and shown more urgency on the field. There have been many occasions where the Indians have shown a casual attitude while changing ends after overs. The lethargic attitude is a major contributing factor to the slow over-rate.

During close finishes – one that demand a number of changes in the field and discussions with other team-mates – a team may breach the time limit. This may have been the reason for India’s breach at Hambantota as Sri Lanka looked good to get close to the Indian target in the final overs.