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A Virat Kohli-less Team India would take on an inexperienced Sri Lanka in the opening game of the three-match ODI series at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday.
Despite being a second-string Indian team, the Men in Blue will still start as favourites. Eyes would definitely be on Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey and Deepak Chahar who would look to impress the selectors ahead of the forthcoming T20 World Cup. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal could reunite again after having played together last in 2019.
On the other hand, the Islanders will be lead by all-rounder Dasun Shanaka who has replaced injured Kusal Perera. The hosts have a tough job of turning their fortunes around against a formidable Indian squad. They need to come back to winning ways after their shambolic performance against England.
Form guide
Sri Lanka: LLWLL
India: WLWWL
(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pitch and weather report
The surface at R Premadasa Stadium generally favours the batsman. Therefore, a high scoring encounter can be witness on Sunday as well.
The temperature could vary from 27 to 31 degree Celsius, but the humidity will be prevalent and there are reasonable chances of rain.
Predicted XI
India: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Navdeep Saini/Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal
Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Pathum Nissanka, Minod Bhanuka (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Isuru Udana, Lakshan Sandakan, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha
Squads
Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Minod Bhanuka (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dasun Shanaka (c), Chamika Karunaratne, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera, Lakshan Sandakan, Ishan Jayaratne , Ramesh Mendis, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Charith Asalanka, Asitha Fernando, Ashen Bandara, Praveen Jayawickrama, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Lahiru Udara, Shiran Fernando, Isuru Udana
India: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prithvi Shaw, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Chetan Sakariya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Sanju Samson, Krishnappa Gowtham, Nitish Rana, Navdeep Saini, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rahul Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy, Devdutt Padikkal.
