All-round India clean-sweep T20I series

In any sport, a sportsman or a team has to wade through the fear of failure. On the path to success, some fall by the wayside. But a select few build belief and failures slowly turn into certainty and success. Sri Lanka, who have been going through a slump consisting whitewashes and heavy losses, though are far from showing that belief for now. In what was a below-par 135 that the tourists looked to defend, they did well to drag the final T20I to the last over, but that was all they managed as India still completed a comfortable series whitewash, winning the Mumbai contest on Friday by five wickets with four deliveries to spare.

The visitors lost series across formats against the Indian team in their own den. Rohit Sharma, the stand-in captain, pummeled the visiting bowlers in both the shorter versions of the game, which included a double century in the ODIs and a breezy 35-ball ton in the second T20I. After losing the first two matches of the T20I series, the tourists arrived on the shores of Mumbai to salvage some pride with a consolation win.

While Sri Lanka failed to find a way out of the endless tunnel of darkness, India made heavy weather of chasing down a rather modest target of 136 and eventually reached the target in the final over to wrap up the rubber 3-0. On a positive note, the Sri Lankan camp would be pleased with the spirited show by the bowlers. At 108 for 5 after 16.1 overs, the tourists seemed to be in the game. For India,