Sri Lanka vs India, 1st T20I: Shikhar Dhawan will hopefully carry on with its gainful momentum in the T20I series against Sri Lanka, after winning the ODI series.
Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy could well be in line as a fantastic Inde with an overwhelming galaxy of powerhouse IPL players in the opening T20 International on Sunday against Sri Lanka. After losing a game in the ODI series, Shikhar Dhawan’s men would look to fight Sri Lanka better with a team in nearly every department ahead of him. Coach Rahul Dravid, however, wishes to check out Chakravarthy who, having proven his ability in the Indian Premier League, will bowl off-break, carrom ball, and also remove deliveries from the right-handers.
The 29-year-old Chakravarthy, who has missed a distance series in Australia and his home series versus England due to problems relating to fitness and injuries, would want to continue his history, even as the Indian squad looks at one spinner in the UAE for the T20 World Cup.
Chakravarthy was more a tennis baller who took his cricket seriously later in his life and made a big show in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), which gained him his first IPL contract.
It’s a lovely narrative and if you can reach the World T20 squad, it’ll be remarkable since it’s not a result of a structured cricket system. The other debut could be one among the IPL performers of Devdutt Padikkal and Ruturaj Gaikwad. The team management could not risk playing both players with Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav due to leave for England.
The elegance of Padikkal in international terms is anticipated, and he will receive a good skipper guiding Dhawan, who has picked up his T20 game over the last two IPL editions. It is likely that both Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson would participate in the XI play, from which Manish Pandey will be dropped following an indifferent T20 series.
The brothers Pandya, Hardik, and Krunal are in this format natural choices. After much well-earned rest, Bhuvneshar Kumar and Deepak Chahar will be back in the mix and Yuzvendra Chahal will probably join Krunal and Chakravarthy at the slow-bowling department.
For Sri Lanka, the first win over India after 9 years on the homeland in an ODI could be precisely the turnaround that the cricketing environment of the country needs when it has been in disarray for years.
Dasun Shanaka is a youthful captain but he is striving to be instinctual on the field, but they will seek to fight the Indians with some high-quality players such as Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chamika Karunaratne, and Avishka Fernando.
The bowling of Akila Dananjaya and Raveen Jayawickrama in the last match indicated that the worn-out Premadasa wickets will grip and turn as well, although dew will not have a role to play in July.
The Teams (of):
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shew, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (deputy-capitán), Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Chahar, Khetan Sakariya, Navdeep Saini, Nitish Chakravarthy, Yuzvendra Chahar, Yuzvendra, Yukovny, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya.
Sri Lanka:Dasun Shanaka (capitain), Dhananjaya De Silva, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Pathum nissanka, Chemika Fernando, Dushmantha Chameera, Lakshan Sandakan, Akila Dananjaya, Chiran Fernando, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Ishan Jayaratne, Praveen, Asitha Fernando, Kason Rajapaksa, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ashen Bandara, Minod Bhanuka, Lahiru Udara, Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karun
