Overview:
Sri Lankans have plenty of questions to answer. They have lost 3 ODI Series' on the trot and could manage just a solitary win in ODIs. More than their performance, they are surrounded by lots of external factors that has diverted their attention and affected their performance this year. Right from players dispute with the Board over the Contract to Bio-Bubble Breach by 3 Players to COVID-19 outbreak to injuries and the List goes on. They will need to forget all these and shift their Focus back to the Game.
The Visitors, on the contrary, are much relaxed despite being an inexperienced side. While many have some International experience, the fresh faces too look quite confident. The addition of Rahul Dravid as their Head Coach for this series makes things even better for them. They have all performed exceptionally in the IPL and are looking forward to convert those performances into International Cricket.
Fixtures:
One Day Internationals
1st ODI - July 18
2nd ODI - July 20
3rd ODI - July 23
Twenty-20 Internationals
1st T20I - July 25
2nd T20I - July 27
3rd T20I - July 29
* All the 6 matches to be played at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
* All the ODIs are D/N, starting at 3 PM Local Time (9:30 AM GMT)
*All the T20Is will be starting at 8 PM Local Time (2:30 PM GMT)
Squads:
Sri Lanka has once again named a new skipper after just 2 months of the previous captaincy change. Shanaka has taken over from Kusal Perera as the full-time limited overs captain. Kusal Perera meanwhile, is set to miss the series due to the shoulder injury.
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (C), Dhananjaya DD Silva (VC), Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ashen Bandara, Minod Bhanuka, Lahiru Udara, Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Lakshan Sandakan, Akila Dananjaya, Shiran Fernando, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Ishan Jayaratne, Praveen Jayawickrama, Asitha Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Isuru Udana
India have announced a “Second-String Side”, as termed by the Former Sri Lanka Cricketer Arjuna Rantunga. Though many have objected to his comment, it is true that the first-choice Indian team is in England preparing for their upcoming Test Series against the hosts. Leading the side for the first time, Shikhar Dhawan would expect his bunch of youngsters to excel in Sri Lankan conditions which are not very alien from the Indian conditions.
India: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (VC), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya
ICC World Cup Super League:
The hosts sit at the 2nd last position with just a win in their 9 matches. Interestingly, only 4 other sides have played 9 or more ODIs and all 4 of them sit comfortably in top 5, along with Australia.
India, on the other hand, are placed at 9th position, even lower than Ireland and Afghanistan, with 3 wins and as many losses in 6 matches. Though they have little to worry about the points table as they are already qualified for the World Cup as Host.
Key Talking Points:
1. Should Rahul Dravid become the Indian Coach as Ravi Shastri’s tenure as the Indian Head Coach is about to end after the T20I World Cup this year?
2. Is it right for Sri Lanka to frequently change their captains and that too not based on the performances but due to the external factors?
Fun Facts:
1. Sri Lanka, Currently, holds the unwanted record of most losses in ODI (428) and T20I (70). They have a chance to get rid of one of those if they beat India 3-0 in ODIs taking India’s Tally of Losses to 430. However, even if they manage to win the ODI Series merely by 2-1, they would find a co-holder of the ODI Record with both sharing 429 Losses.
2. Shikhar Dhawan is set to become the oldest Indian to make his debut as skipper in LOIs. He will take over the record from Mohinder Amarnath, who has held the record since 1984, i.e., a year before Dhawan was Born.
3. Krunal Pandya and Navdeep Saini currently have ODI Batting Averages of 95.00 and 97.00 respectively.
Approaching Milestones:
1. Shikhar Dhawan needs just 23 runs to complete 6000 ODI Runs. If he gets there tomorrow, he would just be the 2nd fastest to the feat in terms of matches (143) just behind Hashim Amla (126). In terms of innings (140), he would be the 4th highest after Amla (123), Kohli (136) and Williamson (139).
2. The Indian skipper needs 35 runs to complete 10,000 International Runs and become just the 14th Indian to reach the landmark.
3. Yuzvendra Chahal, who will be celebrating his 31st birthday on the day of final ODI, needs 8 more wickets to complete 100 ODI wickets.
First ODI Preview:
Sri Lanka might have escaped the whitewash in their last series due to the abandoned final ODI, but surely they would be looking forward to up their game, especially as they play in their home conditions. India would be looking to make an emphatic start to this tour by winning the first ODI and setting up the tone for the rest of the tour. They are likely to hand out some debuts in the the first ODI and the debutants would be itching to walk out in the middle. Shikhar Dhawan would also like to prove a point with his captaincy.
