With all three teams winning one match each, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have everything to play for in the next round of fixtures. India will face Sri Lanka in a crucial match today, as Rohit Sharma’s side will want to extract revenge on the opening match’s loss.
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Here all the probable XI for this pivotal fixture:
Openers:
Shikhar Dhawan has been in red hot form in the series with scoring 50’s on both previous occasion. He is literally first name on the team sheet.
But his counterpart and team India captain for the series is having horrid time with the bat. Rohit Sharma has been dismissed for ducks more than any other Indian batsmen in T20I’s, so he surely will love to go on the field and lead from the front.
Middle order:
This is where it gets little tricky for Team India. Suresh Raina’s revelation as no.3 batsman has been superb since T20 series against SA last month where he went all guns blazing on Proteas. But he has not performed that well in this series. While he will be automatic selection, he will have a point to prove as well.
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Now India have as many as four options for the number 4 slot. While the experience of Dinesh Karthik can play a vital role at this position, Team India are inclined to give K L Rahul a chance.
Rahul has been sitting on the bench far too often in limited overs cricket and he is very eager to get on field while Rishabh Pant has failed to impress on both previous occasions. So Rahul for Pant can be the only change for India today.
India will look to retain services of Pandey and Karthik for rest of the middle order as they have performed reasonably well with bat and on the field.
All-Rounder:
Team India has brought Vijay Shankar and Randeep Hooda in place of Hardik Pandya on this tour. While Hooda being right arm off spin, India is likely to go for Vijay Shankar, who is direct replacement of Pandya as right arm medium pace.
Bowlers:
India has gone with same bowling attack for their last two matches of the series and they are likely to do the same for today’s match. With two pacers, one right arm and other left arm, they have enough variations on hand to trouble the Sri Lankan batting attack.
India went with Washington Sundar in place of Kuldeep Yadav for this series and he has performed very well. Sundar will give perfect support to Yuzvendra Chahal who has been torch bearer for Indian bowling attack in limited overs cricket.
With Dinesh Chandimal being suspended for two matches due to slow over rate, this bowling attack with its mix bag of exuberance and experience is capable enough to counter Sri Lanka.
India’s starting XI:
Shikhar Dhawan
Rohit Sharma
Suresh Raina
K L Rahul
Manish Pandey
Dinesh Karthik
Vijay Shankar
Washington Sundar
Yuzvendra Chahal
Jaydev Unadkat
Shardul Thakur
