India are having a golden run in T20s right now, having won seven of their last eight matches. The win that came against Pakistan was incredibly satisfying, not just to the team itself, but also for hundreds of millions of Indian cricket fans all over the world.
But Sri Lanka are not be taken lightly. Indians made the mistake of underestimating Sri Lanka in 2014, and ended up losing the World T20 final to them. That Sri Lankan side was much better than this one, with the likes of Kumar Sangakarra and Mahela Jayawardane part of it, who have since retired.
We have a new look Sri Lankan team today, with new and exciting players. While they are talented and enthusiastic for sure, they are unlikely to cause the same sort of concern in the Indian side as the Sri Lankan sides of old used to.
Sri Lanka’s biggest issue is their batting. It’s just not good enough. India did lose the first match of the 3 match series against Sri Lanka last month, but more than made up by comfortably beating them in the remaining two. Ravi Ashwin seems to have a hold over the Sri Lankans. He has troubled them more than any bowler in the world and they are still to find a way to stop him.
As for India, they seem to have found a perfect combination of hard hitting batsmen, accurate seam bowlers, couple of decent allrounders and Ashwin, of course. This is by far the best Indian T20 side we have seen in years, every aspect of the game has been covered.
Ashish Nehra as come back so well into the India side that it is as though he was never away. The question everybody is asking is why was he ever away? Nehra’s performance has been brilliant and it’s just sad that he has got this chance to play for India at the age of 36. His non-selection in the last 10 years is baffling and reflects poorly on the acumen of the Indian selectors.
Jaspreet Bumrah has been a sensational find as well. He has a strange action, but an effective one, and gets a lot of pace and movement out of it. Another great find has been Hardik Pandya – he is the sort of player India always dreamed about – a hard hitting batsman who can bowl fast-medium.
The fact that India had to make do with the likes of Stuart Binny for so long, when they had someone of Pandya’s quality in the country is another baffling decision by the selection committee. Regardless, a lesson has been learned and it is clear that the best 11 players in India are playing for India right now – which is something that doesn’t happen often.
Shikhar Dhawan missed out the game against Pakistan because of a minor injury. He should be back. For Sri Lanka, Malinga may not play because of a knee injury, in which case Thisara Perera will get another chance to play for his country.
The Teams
India : 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (wk & capt), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 R Aswhin, 10 Ashish Nehra, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Sri Lanka : 1 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Milinda Siriwardana, 4 Dasun Shanaka, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Chamara Kapugedara, 7 Shehan Jayasuriya, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Lasith Malinga (capt)/ Thisara Perera
Match Conditions
We expect to see a lot of help for seamers from this Mirpur track. The weather should be fine and no rain has been forecast.
Watch India play Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup tonight at 7:00 pm live on Star Sports!
