Rishabh Pant ( Source : Getty Image )
After India outplayed the hosts Sri Lanka in the T20I leg of the ongoing tour, the action moved to the 50-over format, as skippers Rohit Sharma and Charith Asalanka appeared for the toss ahead of the 1st ODI at the R. Premdasa Stadium, Colombo. On a gloomy afternoon on Friday, August 02, Asalanka got the coin flip in his side’s favour, and revealed that they will be batting first.
Before coming into the series, the Lankans were marred by injuries and other concerns. Matheesha Pathirana and Dilshan Madhushanka were already ruled out of the series, leaving the bowling duties in the hands of a fairly inexperienced unit.
Speaking of the Rohit Sharma-led side, he stated that he will be opening alongside deputy Shubman Gill, as Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer were the next two batters in the top order. For the wicketkeeping duties, India went ahead with KL Rahul over Rishabh Pant, as the southpaw was rested for the opening encounter. The reasons for Pant’s exclusion were not revealed by Rohit at the toss.
Also Read: Difficult to choose between KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant, both are match-winners: Rohit Sharma
Among other notable inclusions were Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar, who haven’t been regular features in the format. Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh will be India’s pacers for the encounter, as Axar Patel is another all-rounder to sum up the playing combination of the Men in Blue.
Here are the playing combinations for SL vs IND, 1st ODI at Colombo:
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (w), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka(c), Janith Liyanage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Akila Dananjaya, Asitha Fernando, Mohamed Shiraz
Check Here: SL vs IND Live Score, 1st ODI
Here’s what both the captains said at the toss:
Rohit Sharma (India captain): Good pitch. We have played a lot of cricket here and know the conditions. There has been a lot of changes; I am back, so is Virat (Kohli), KL (Rahul) and Shreyas Iyer. Kuldeep (Yadav) also comes back in. (Shivam) Dube is also playing. We have a pretty decent balance. We had a great (ODI) World Cup, we didn’t cross the finishing line, but there were a lot of positives. We have created an atmosphere where guys can come in and play with freedom. Not really (on whether he will bowl), I will focus on my batting. We have enough bowlers in the squad that can roll their arm over.
Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka captain): We are going to bat first. It looks like a dry pitch and that’s the reason. We are going with 6-5 combination. Shiraz is making his debut today. We have to improve our mental skills, we did some bad things in the last game but that is the past and we are looking forward to this game. It is a concern as a captain but I am looking forward to going with my second line of bowling.
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