Sri Lanka earned a consolation win after they beat India in the third and final ODI as the Men in Blue earned the series 2-1. It was a much-improved performance from the Lankan side who will take a lot of confidence from their performance heading into the T20I series. India, on the other hand, gave ODI debuts to five players for the first time since 1980. Both teams now focus on the T20Is and the series acts as a perfect dress rehearsal for the upcoming T20 World Cup. All the T20Is will be played in Colombo with the first game on Sunday, July 25.

Sri Lanka vs India, 1st T20I Preview

Sri Lanka

The much-improved performance from the Lankan side will give them the confidence of winning the T20I series. The Lankan side are placed 10th ahead of the start of the series. India, on the other end, are ranked second in the ICC T20I rankings. The series for the Lankan side will be one where they identify players who can be matchwinners for them in the T20 World Cup. The 2014 T20 World Cup Winners will need to go through the qualifying stage to get through to the round of 12 where the main teams will be fighting it out for the ultimate title. 

They will be looking to give opportunities to the players who did not get to play the ODIs. Along with them, they will need to identify players who can play the T20 game as well. The likes of Pathum Nissanka and Lahiru Udara who were benched in the ODIs are likely to be tested in the T20Is Alongside them, Bhanuka Rajapaksha and Avishka Fernando should be the other two batsmen who should get a look in in the T20Is. With Akila Dananjaya and Praveen Jayawickrama producing match-winning performances, the spin duo should get all the games as well. 

India

The loss in the final ODI was a huge warning for India not to take sides lightly. India’s changes came back to hurt them as their batsmen did not give enough runs for the bowlers to defend. Their bowlers tried their best to keep them in the game but the Bhanuka-Fernando partnership was enough to take the Lankans to a win. 

With the side having specialist T20 players with a lot of IPL experience, the Indian side should go for a whitewash in the series yet again. Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad who were benched in the ODIs are expected to given opportunities in the T20Is. India have a lot of options to choose from in dishing out a competitive playing XI.

While Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Rana should stay in the periphery of getting a look in Manish Pandey’s string of low scores might see him getting benched for the T20I series.

Among the bowlers, the ‘KulCha’ pair is expected to return in the T20Is with Bhuvneshwar Kumar leading the pace attack. The absence of Bhuvi was hugely felt in the T20Is. Varun Chakravarty is another exciting prospect expected to play all the games. Like in their batting, India have plenty of options in their bowling department and the management will have a hard time picking the ideal XI and also keeping the rotational policy in mind. 

Head To Head: India vs Sri Lanka

Of the 19 T20 matches played between these two nations, 13 have been won by India and Sri Lanka has managed to win only 5 games. Of the 15 series played so far, ten have been won by India and Sri Lanka have managed to win only one.

Pitch & Weather Conditions

The weather conditions for the T20I series are expected to be pleasant. Rain played spoilsport in the third and final ODI reducing the match to 47 overs. 36 T20Is have been played at this venue so far with bat and ball seemingly having an even contest. 18 matches have been won by the team chasing while 17 matches won batting first. The average first innings score is 157 which drops down to nearly 140 in the second. Chasing was fairly easy in all the three ODIs and the trend is expected to continue even in the T20Is.

Squads

India

Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (Wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (Wicketkeeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-captain), Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya

Sri Lanka

Dasun Shanaka (Captain), Dhananjaya De Silva (Vice Captain), Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ashen Bandara, Minod Bhanuka, Lahiru Udara, Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Lakshan Sandakan, Akila Dhananjaya, Shiran Fernando,Dhananjaya Lakshan, Ishan Jayaratne, Praveen Jayawickrema, Asitha Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Isuru Udana

Also Read: Aakash Chopra Baffled By Six Changes in Indian Side For Third ODI

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