India vs Sri Lanka – once termed as a yawing encounter between the Asian rivals – will face each other once again at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack on Sunday in the first of the five-match one-day series, with the men in blue heading as favourites in the series opener.
The cricket boards of both teams agreed for a short series rather swiftly, but the series is getting attention as it could have a pretty big outcome on the forthcoming World Cup in Australia-New Zealand.
Sri Lanka, however, are not in best of shapes heading into the series and their thumping defeat in the practice game against India A proved that. The Lankan Lions looked toothless in the absence of Lasith Malinga and Rangana Herath and were thrashed in the warm up tie.
Barabati pitch is expected to be flat deck “full of runs” and without the likes of Herath and Malinga it’s not good news for the Islanders. The touring party knows they don’t have a rosy record in India and with conditions not favouring them they might find hard to contain the Indians.
“Barabati wicket is no longer slowish in nature,” Barabati curator Pankaj Patnaik told. “It would be full of runs. I cannot predict a total but it should be around 280-300.”
Where to Watch Live Score Updates and Streaming
The first one-dayer between India and Sri Lanka is schedule for a 13:30 IST (08:00 GMT) start at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. Viewers can catch the live updates of the match online on BCCI, ICC or ESPN Cricinfo. The match will be broadcasted on Star Sports in India, with online live streaming option HERE. International viewers can catch the action live online on Willow TV HERE or HERE.
The Indians, meanwhile, will be missing regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is rested for the first three one-dayers, and pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Virat Kohli will be leading the team, despite question marks over his form.
Kohli has just started getting his touch back, after scoring a blistering century against West Indies in Dharamshala ODI, and he is yet to prove that he has got his mojo back, post England tour.
“I always like captaining the side as it gives me an opportunity to test myself at a different aspect of the game,” Virat said. “Especially having a young side with not so much of experience is always an exciting thing because there is a lot you can find out about different players and experiment a lot on the field.”
India will have a good chance of trying out different bowling combinations before heading Down Under. Mohammed Shami will lead the attack, while Umesh Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni and Varun Aaron have golden opportunities to make mark for Australia tri-series.
All eyes will be on speedster Ishant Sharma and this could be his best opportunity to stamp himself as a serious contender for a place in the World Cup squad.
“Everyone knows that the World Cup spots are up for grabs and four-five of these guys will make the squad,” Kohli said. “We don’t play too many ODIs between this series and the World Cup and that makes this series even more exciting.”
The worrying factor for both the teams apart from getting the combination right is the dew. Side batting second will be troubled by the heavy dew falling in the evening and the toss could play an important role in the outcome of the match.
“We’ve noticed that the dew starts falling after 7pm forming a thick layer on the grass,” Patnaik said. “It’s something to worry about but we will take all measures to minimise the effect.”
Squads: India: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, Varun Aaron, Akshar Patel, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu and Amit Mishra.
Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (c), Kusal Perera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Ashan Priyanjan, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dhammika Prasad, Lahiru Gamage, Chaturanga de Silva, Seekuge Prasanna and Suraj Randiv.
