Second ODI at Pallekele: INDIA LOOKS TO CONTINUE WINNING RUN
Sri Lanka hopes to bounce back
India will once again be at their ruthless best when they take on Sri Lanka in the Second One Day International at the Pallekele Stadium today (24). After a lop-sided 3-0 Test series victory, the script did not change much in the opening ODI, where India steamrolled the opposition by nine wickets at the Dambulla Stadium on Sunday. As such, it is tough to foresee any changes to the Indian playing XI. At Dambulla, India didn’t prefer to go in with either two legspinners or two left-arm spinners, thus forming the Chahal-patel’s orthodox leg break-left arm spin combination.
Additionally, the ODI wickets in Sri Lanka do not afford the luxury of playing three spinners. Thus, unless the Pallekele wicket is exceptionally dry, Kuldeep Yadav can expect to be left out once again, along with Manish Pandey, Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur.
This series too has all the makings of another one-sided contest and is not making for a good spectacle for the home fans who clearly let their displeasure known during the first One Day International. Sri Lanka need to win two ODIS in this series to make sure that the West Indies do not overhaul them in the ODI Ranking and gain automatic qualification for the 2019 ODI World Cup before the September 30 deadline.
The hosts need more responsibility and stability in their batting ranks, and could look to bring back Dinesh Chandimal if only to quieten down the heated atmosphere surrounding the team’s dismal performances recently.
It is tough to see who will be left out though as the top-order did well enough to put the Indian attack under pressure, until at least the 28th over when Sri Lanka were placed at 150 for three, thanks to the exploits of Danushka Gunathilaka, Niroshan Dickwella and Kusal Mendis.
They had resisted the Indian pace attack as well as one half of their spin duo to lay the foundation of a decent- enough target, only to be let down by the lower order. Teams: India: (from): Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, K. L. Rahul, Manish Pandey, Ajinkya Rahane, Kedar Jadhav, M. S. Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur.
Sri Lanka: (from): Upul Tharanga (Captain), Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Chamara Kapugedera, Milinda Siriwardana, Malinda Pushpakumara, Akila Dananjaya, Lakshan Sandakan, Thisara Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lasith Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera and Vishwa Fernando. (Agencies)