Nidahas Trophy, India v Sri Lanka, : Lankans win toss, opt to bowl

Toss: Sri Lanka have opted to bowl first. Little surprise there as the Premadasa track looks a belter and they will be fancying their chances chasing.

Despite fielding a second-string squad, which has seen the likes of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya rested, India still start out as favourites. With Rohit Sharma, who also captains the team, and Shikhar Dhawan in the side, they should be fancying their chances.

It also remains to be seen if Deepak Hooda makes his debut. He was picked in the side after establishing himself as one of the leading batsmen in the domestic circuit in this format. Axar Patel and



18-year-old Washington Sundar are the spinners but don’t forget wily Suresh Raina’s abilities with the ball. Yuzvendra Chahal will be leading the line. Kuldeep Yadav misses out due to injury.

As for Sri Lanka, they have a lot to prove and the good part is, they know how their opponents work. Home advantage may not particularly weigh heavily in their favour as they lost each and every game, across formats, against India last year. The Lankans also miss some key names in Angelo Mathews and all-rounder Asela Gunaratne. But.....as Rohit said, T20 is like the Premier League or a box or chocolates (whatever analogy suits you) – you never know what you are going to get.