A clinical India, buoyed by the performances of its top three batsmen, will be looking to build a 2-0 lead against Sri Lanka in Thursday’s second ODI.
Virat Kohli, who had been suffering from a century drought for almost three years with a T20I win against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup last September, hasn’t looked back since then, especially in the white-ball format. He celebrated his 73rd International Century in their 67-run victory in Guwahati.
In the first ODI at Guwahati, he looked in complete control and Sri Lanka was forced to pay for two missed chances to slam back-to-back ODI hundred hundreds that made up the backbone for India’s huge 373 for seven. He looked like the Kohli from the past, with no Sri Lankan bowler bothering him.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who was returning from injury, proved that he is not short of match-fitness. He took on the Lankan team in a 67-ball-83 match to lay the foundation for a huge total. Before he reached his favorite venue Eden Gardens, he seemed to be in his element.
Rohit scored a world record of 264 when the two teams met eight years ago in this ODI. Rohit, as Indian skipper, would love to score a big score at his favorite venue.
He is still searching for an ODI century, which he has been avoiding since a long time. His last ODI hundred was against Australia in January 2020. This would be an additional motivation.
Add to that the brilliant ODI run of Shubman Gill to India’s top three, and India top-order is set and ready to take on the weak Lankan attack.
Gill received unflinching support by his skipper and was back in the ODI format as opener at the expense left-handed keeper-batter Ishan Kishan. This selection has been criticized a lot in Guwahati.
Gill stifled all the debate by delivering another stunning knock of 70 off 60 balls, continuing his fine form last year when he averaged 70 runs from 12 innings.
ShreyasIyer, who also returned from an amazing ODI run last season and occupies the no 4 spot with the flair for handling spin and rotating strike mid-overs, is the only person who may be able to fill the gap in the batting order.
Rahul, who doubles as a wicketkeeper, is in terrible form but could get a longer run, especially in the series, to prolong Kishan’s wait.
Mohammed Siraj kept raising his stakes, and looked great with the new ball in an initial spell of 5-1-15-2. This was laced with 25 dots balls on a flat deck at Barsapara Stadium.
Siraj will enjoy the challenge of bowling on Eden’s fast deck with Mohammed Shami, although it remains to be determined if the team think tank decides to add a seamer.
Umran Malik was the enforcer during the middle overs until Dasun Shanaka took him on en route for a fine century.
The pace gun is still a young weapon and will continue to grow with each match.
In a close contest in Guwahati, Skipper Dasun Shanaka was the only silver-lining for Sri Lanka. The visitors were able to see some hope in the premier all-rounder from Sri Lanka, who was 179/7. He scored a valiant 108 and promised to keep up his fine form.
Shanaka made the most of the dew and took Indian bowling to its knees. But, they needed a team effort from all their batters to be able to take on India.
The opener, Pathum Nissanka, is also on good form and the Lankans will be looking to put on a strong performance with the bat.
The biggest disappointment for the Sri Lankans came from their fielding, as they dropped Kohli twice. They also hoped for a better performance from their bowlers, especially in the powerplay, where they provided a lot of length to Indian batters.
It remains to be seen if Sri Lanka will hire Dilshan Madushanka, a left-arm seamer who made his debut at Guwahati.
Chris Silverwood, his coach, said that he had injured his right shoulder during fielding.
Teams (from
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Paandya (vc), Shubman Gil, Virat Kohli. Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chhal, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kirshan (wk), Washington Sundar. Yuzvendra Chahal. Kuldeep Yadav. Axar Paltel. Mohammed Shami. Umran Malik.
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (c), Kusal Mendis (vc), Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ashen Bandara, Maheesh Theekshana, Chamika Karunaratne, Dilshan Madushanka, Kasun Rajitha, Nuwanidu Fernando (ODIs), Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan, Lahiru Kumara.Match starts: 1.30pm IST.