IND vs SL: 2nd T20I Preview

Eat-Win-Sleep-Repeat.

For a while now, India has been stuck in this repetitive routine, extending its run to 10 games. It was just another day for Rohit Sharma's men when they thumped the visitors by 62 runs in Lucknow. Put into bat, India was off to flying start with Rohit and Kishan putting up a 111-run stand. Biggest positive for India was Ishan Kishan's blazing innings of 89 off just 56 deliveries. Kishan admitted he wasn't positive in his intent in the series against West Indies and had to change his mindset.
After a good start the onus was now on the the relatively new middle order to make sure India reaches somewhere near 200. Shreyas Iyer started his innings slowly after being promoted at no. 3 scoring run-a-ball after facing 13 deliveries but changed the momentum of the match by scoring 43 off his last 14 balls. Shreyas has always grabbed his opportunities with both hands in all 3 formats. In the last 6 T20I series, he has contributed well in 5 of them. Since November 2019, he has scored 558 runs at an SR of 146 while maintaining an average of 34.

Sri Lanka started poorly with Nissanka out on the very first delivery. The chase went nowhere as they kept losing wickets regularly. Charith Asalanka was the only positive in the batting department. Chamika and Chameera used the long handle in the end but that was too late and too less. 

Things are only going south for them since their Australia series where they lost 4-1. They had just one practice session after arriving in India post the MCG T20I on 20th. To make matters worse, they are without their 2 frontline spinners in Hasaranga and Theekshana while Kusal Mendis, Binura Fernando, Avishka Fernando, Nuwan Thushara are unavailable either because of injuries or COVID. Dhananjay De silva and wicketkeeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella have been added to the squad. Dickwella's inclusion might strengthen their batting if he opens with Nissanka. It is going to be an uphill task for the visitors with all these challenges to come back in the series against a quality side like India. India on the other hand added Mayank Agarwal to the squad after Ruturaj Gaikwad's injury.
 

Probable XI

Sri Lanka: Niroshan Dickwella, Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Charith Asalanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Dasun Shanaka, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Jeffrey Vandersay, Binura/Kumara, Praveen Jayawickrama

India: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Deepak Hooda, Venkatesh Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzi Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

Pitch & Weather 

Rain is expected to spoil the party of India's victory run. This venue is generally one of the most high-scoring venues in India but in the last T20I played here in 2016, New Zealand were able to defend 142.

Head To Head

Overall: India leads 15-7
Last 10 matches: India leads 7-3
In India: India leads 9-2
Under Rohit's Captaincy: India leads 5-1
 

Match Ups

India

• Rohit vs Chameera: 31 runs off 24 balls with 4 dismissals
• Rohit vs Kumara: 8 runs off 7 balls with 1 dismissal
• Ishan vs Kumara: 31 runs off 14 balls with no dismissals
• Shreyas vs Chameera: 40 runs off 20 balls with no dismissals

Sri Lanka

• Chandimal vs Jadeja: 25 runs off 23 balls with 2 dismissals
• Asalanka vs Chahal: 16 runs off 19 balls with no dismissals
• Shanaka vs Chahal: 15 runs off 22 balls with 2 dismissals
• Shanaka vs Jadeja: 9 runs off 21 balls with 1 dismissal

Form Update
(in last 5 T20I innings)

Key Players

India

Ishan Kishan: After a series of low scores against West Indies, the blistering left-handed opener was back at his best as he smashed 89 in 56 deliveries. Opening has been India's biggest strength in their last 10 T20Is. With runs under his belt, the hosts would be once again expecting a solid start from the wicketkeeper batsman. 

Sanju Samson: The national team doors seemed to be closed for Sanju but with injuries and some players being rested, it has once again given him a huge opportunity to stamp his authority at the international level. The Rajasthan Royals skipper racked up 484 runs at an SR of 136 in 2021 IPL. Skipper Rohit Sharma had a lot to say about Sanju in the press conference prior to the series which clearly indicates he is in India's plans for the World Cup.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: There have been time and again question marks over Bhuvi's place in T20Is with the likes of Siraj and Avesh warming the bench and Chahar doing relatively well in the Powerplay. But Bhuvi has silenced his critics in each of his outing in this format in the last one year. Since his comeback against England, Bhuvi has scalped 16 wickets from 15 games at an impressive economy of 6.65. Not just picking wickets in Powerplays, he also bowled brilliantly at the death in the series against West Indies.

Sri Lanka

Pathum Nissanka: He was the highest scorer against Australia with 184 runs. One major criticism regarding Nissanka is his strike rate. He starts at run-a-ball and fails to accelerate as the innings progresses. A career strike rate of 116 after 16 innings is a testimony to his style of play. Asalanka is another batter Sri Lanka will heavily rely on in the middle order. He has scored a quickfire 44 and 53 against India in his last 2 encounters. With Dickwella at top, Nissanka's job might just get easier.

Dushmantha Chameera: He is the leader of Sri Lanka's pace attack in limited overs. It's very rare for Sri Lanka to have 2 bowlers who bowl in the excess of 140 kmph. Initial overs of Chameera and Kumara are their best bets to cause early damage with the ball as couple of Indian batters are a little uncomfortable against high pace. Chameera bowled decently in his last series against Australia. In 2 games he took 4 wickets in the death overs and did not allow the hosts to get a par score.

Chamika Karunaratne: Batting down the order he can cause some damage with the bat in the end overs. Scored 90 runs at an SR of 115 in the last ODI series against India. Sri Lanka lack quality power hitters at the death and Chamika-Shanaka will have an uphill task against the likes of Bumrah and Harshal. He displayed this quality in 1st T20I with his cameo of 20 odd.

Trivia

• India & Rohit both have a win-streak of 10 T20Is
• Rohit has a century in the only T20I he played at Dharamsala
• Rohit is 17 runs away from completing 1000 runs as T20I captain
• Sri Lanka has won just 2 of their last 10 T20Is
• India always wins when Rohit hits a Six while leading the side.

Fantasy XI