KL Rahul and Arshdeep Singh. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)
Team India (IND) are locking horns with hosts Sri Lanka (SL) in the third and final ODI of the three-match series at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, on Wednesday, August 07. The hosts are 1-0 up in the series after they fought back hard in the second ODI to clinch a 32-run.
Sri Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka called it correctly at the toss and opted to bat first. The hosts made one notable change to their playing XI, as star spinner Maheesh Theekshana replaced Akila Dananjaya. Theekshana didn’t feature in any of the games of the series as he wasn’t fully fit and Dananjaya was playing in place of him.
On the other hand, India too entered the fray with some changes from the last game. They benched wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh. As a result, they went with middle-order batters Rishabh Pant and Riyan Parag.
While Parag who made his T20I debut last month in Zimbabwe, got the chance to earn his maiden ODI cap as star batter Virat Kohli presented him the cap before the toss. Meanwhile, for Pant, this match holds immense significance as he is playing his first ODI game since November 30, 2022.
“We are going to bat first. It looks same like the previous two ODIs. Theekshana comes in for Akila Dananjaya. Guys are doing very well, we are in a good position. I would like to see someone score a hundred on this pitch” Asalanka said at the toss.
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The Indian skipper credited the opposition for playing good cricket in the last two matches. But Sharma looks confident for the final fixture and believes that the group needs to play together to get the job done.
Plenty to play for, we’ve been challenged in the last two matches. It’s clear as to what we need to do with the bat and ball. We’ve addressed it – what we need to do as a group. You got to give credit to the opposition, they played well and understood the position well. Another opportunity for us to correct. Two changes. We have Rishabh and Riyan Parag in place of KL and Arshdeep,” Sharma said at the toss.
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India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Shreyas Iyer, Riyan Parag, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis(w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka(c), Janith Liyanage, Kamindu Mendis, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando
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