Sri Lanka – with none of its squad members having experienced playing at the Eden Gardens – will be hoping for a miracle to keep the series alive till the weekend.
Shubman Gill’s craftiness was yet again on display. Rohit Sharma sizzled in his demoiselle megahit of the time. And Virat Kohli advanced the knockout punch.
As if that was n’t an ideal launch to the medication for the ODI World Cup, Mohammed Siraj’s exploits with the new ball and Umran Malik’s magical spell in the middle meant India had Sri Lanka on the mat for utmost of the opening ODI on Tuesday.
As the traveling cortege moves from the north- eastern region to the holy grail of justice in the eastern metro, Rohit and co. will be keen to extend head trainer Rahul Dravid’s birthday fests by sealing another series at the Eden auditoriums.
Sri Lanka with none of its team members having endured playing at the Colosseum- will be hoping for a phenomenon to keep the series alive till the weekend. Despite the favourable result- and Rohit and Kohli’s return to their favourite venue- India still has plenitude to consider with an eye on the World Cup.
The combination that India chose for the series- nature is doubtful to be tinkered with. But it’ll be intriguing to see how India manages the reserves, especially the brace of Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav.
No mistrustfulness, Gill, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul have been among India’s name players in ODIs since the launch of 2022. But with Kishan having indented up a double- hundred in Bangladesh in Rohit’s absence and Suryakumar being in the form of his life, especially in T20Is, the brace is bound to feel hard done by for being benched in the ongoing series.
Ishan and Suryakumar’s body language in the unker during Tuesday’s series nature was positive. But the platoon operation will have to go the redundant afar to insure the dressing room remains positive and vibrant.
Despite Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka ending the game on a high and the visiting side crossing 300, India is doubtful to change the bowling line- up. The only point of discussion could be whether to give Hardik Pandya- who has played four games in 10 days with expansive trip in between- a break for managing his workload.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will have a lot to consider over heading into the must-have- palm game. Its lacklustre spin in the Power Plays and poor catching visited it big- time in Guwahati. To add to its straits, left- arm leader Dilshan Madushanka is doubtful to feature on Thursday after moving his right shoulder during the first ODI. Know More Latest Cricket News…
TEAM SQUADS
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh.
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (c), Kusal Mendis (vc, wk), Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ashen Bandara, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Chamika Karunaratne, Dilshan Madushanka, Kasun Rajitha, Nuwanidu Fernando, Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan and Lahiru Kumara.
