Sri Lanka v India, One-off T20: India Predicted XI

With the ODI and Test series all done and dusted, with India whitewashing Sri Lanka in both whites and coloured clothing, the focus then shifts to the shortest format of the game. India would look to create history by whitewashing an entire tour, which has never done by a visiting nation.

India already created history by whitewashing two series and would be looking forward to creating new benchmarks in the game by winning the One-off T20 game as well. India preferably would want to go full strength and be ruthless in the T20I game tomorrow at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. Let us look at the predicted XI of India against Lanka.

Openers (Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul)

With the absence of Shikhar Dhawan due to an ailing mother back home, KL Rahul ideally would get the chance to bat at his favourite position, opening the batting along with Rohit Sharma who has been in colossal form in the recently concluded Sri Lanka series.

Rohit Sharma notched up back to back centuries in the 3rd and 4th ODI after bringing up a half century in the 2nd One dayer. That said, Lokesh Rahul has been lukewarm in the ODI series and may have a point or two to himself and his captain who has blind faith in his abilities.

Middle Order (Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav)

At number three is India’s ace batsman Virat Kohli who is yet another Indian batsman in red hot form. Along with Sharma, he brought up consecutive ODI tons in the last two games of the recently concluded series. Kohli, who made full use of the long T2o season last year, would be the player to watch out for in the match on 6th.

Manish Pandey looked in good touch when he was provided with the opportunity in the last couple of ODIs with his knock of 50* and 36. Just like Rahul, he would want to prove a point by contributing something substantial to seal a spot in limited overs for India.

MS Dhoni has been on a record breaking spree in the ongoing tour of Sri Lanka. He now has the most number of stumpings in ODIs and not outs in International cricket, apart from being the third highest run getter for India in 50-over cricket.

The onus would be on MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav to finish the innings for India. Jadhav finally found his touch back after a dismal ODI series, with his aggressive knock of 63 in the final ODI. His knack of picking up wickets and breaking partnership would always be handy for Kohli.

All Rounder (Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel)

The all-rounder department would be handled by Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel. There are high chances that Hardik Pandya would be promoted up the order during the last five overs in front of the likes of Pandey and Jadhav to get those extra 30 runs.

He would have to bowl his quota of 4 overs, lest Jadhav appears to bowl a couple here and there. Axar Patel has been amongst the wickets in the ODI series as he gathered 6 wickets in the four games he played. His hard hitting abilities would come in handy lower down the order if India loses wickets in clumps.

Bowlers (Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal)

One has a feeling that after remaining wicketless in the previous three matches of the series, the floodgates finally opened for Bhuvneshwar Kumar who picked up his maiden five-wicket haul in ODI cricket. Jasprit Bumrah, who was adjudged as the man of the series with his 15 wickets in the series will be back to the format where he gained all his reputation for being the premium death bowler presently in the world.

The new ball will be shared by the two as Shardul Thakur may have to wait for his opportunity for making his T20I debut. Chahal and Axar would have to share the responsibility of spin in the present lineup. Axar, Bhuvi, Chahal and Bumrah are expected to complete their quota of four overs, with Pandya and Jadhav completing the remainder of overs.