Sri Lanka select Danith Wellarej ahead of Mahesh Tekshana to give Dilshan Madhushanka ODI debut
Toth Sri Lanka decided to bowl against India
Sri Lanka won the draw and chose to throw the ball first in his first ODI in Guwahati. Rohit Sharma said that mainly India would have followed. The main reason is that there is usually a lot of dew on that pitch in the evening, making it difficult for bowlers to get hold of the ball.
Sri Lanka, substituted from the side that played his T20I in the third, replaced spinner Mahesh his Tekshana and scored young left-arm all-rounder Danis his wellerage. Theekshana is a key member of his team in Men’s T20, but Wellalage has surpassed his ODI bowling record in nine games so far and has also stepped up his team’s batting. Fast left arm Dilshan Madushanka made his ODI debut and played ahead of Rahil Kumara. Meanwhile, India had no place for 11-year-old Suryakumar Yadav, despite his impressive T20 form. He scored his century in his third T20I. Instead, his wicket-holding KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer sit midfield. As Rohit hinted on the eve of the match, left-hander Shubman Gir, who scored a double century in India’s last ODI against Bangladesh in December, was preferred as his starting partner ahead of Ishan Kishan. . Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel run the spin department, with Umran Malik playing in front of his Arshdeep Singh.
Weather is not expected to interrupt this game. Sri Lanka are keen to win these games as they aim to qualify for the ODI World Cup later this year. Host nation India automatically qualifies for the tournament.
India 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 KL Rahul (wk) 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Yuzvendra Chahal, 9 Mohammed Siraj, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Umran Malik
Sri Lanka 1 Kusal Mendis (wk), 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Avishka Fernando, 4 Dhananjaya de Silva, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt.), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Dunith Wellalage, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Dilshan Madushanka