Sri Lanka’s tour of India gets underway with a three-match T20I series from Thursday, February 24 at Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. After a comprehensive win over West Indies in three ODIs and T20Is, each by 3-0, the Rohit Sharma-led team will be keen to put on another stellar display in this home series.
Indi are expected to experiment with their playing XI as a handful of players are unavailable due to injury concerns. KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Chahar and Washington Sundar among others have been ruled out of the T20I series due to injuries.
Team India is likely to give a chance to Ishan Kishan to open the batting alongside Rohit Sharma, while the swashbuckling Sanju Samson has been roped in place of Rishabh Pant, who’s been rested along with Virat Kohli for this series. Chahar’s injury gets Avesh Khan into the side, while young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who made his debut against West Indies earlier this month has been retained.
Meanwhile, the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav would also be hoping to get some game time to stay in rhythm ahead of the Indian Premier League.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, would want to forget their 4-1 drubbing they endured in Australia and will have some of their own points to prove to their passionate fans in this series. Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, and Dushmantha Chameera also look in fine form and the team will be bolstered with the return of Wanindu Hasaranga and Binura Fernando into the squad. They both had tested positive for COVID-19 and now will be available for this series, having served their seven days’ isolation.
India (IND) vs Afghanistan (AFG) probable playing XIs
India Possible Starting Line-up: Rohit Sharma (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson or Ishan Kishan (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj or Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi
Sri Lanka Possible Starting Line-up: Kamil Mishara, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Kusal Mendis (WK), Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka (C), Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Lahiru Kumara
India vs Sri Lanka full squads
India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, R Pant, KS Bharat, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, J Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj , Umesh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar
Sri Lanka squad: Dasun Shanaka (C), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kamil Mishara, Janith Liyanage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando, Maheesh Theekssay, Maheesh V , Praveen Jayawickrama, Ashian Daniel
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