2nd ODI: India adamant to continue winning momentum against Sri Lanka

36f5a4f9-6e56-4759-981f-e589f1f337a1
India will face Sri Lanka for the 2nd ODI at Pallekele. File Pic

 

Internet Desk: One can once again expect India to be merciless when the side takes on island hosts Sri Lanka in the second ODI at Pallekele tomorrow after taking a 1-0 lead in the first game. Before the ODI, the Indian side thrashed the Lankans by clinching a 3-0 whitewash in the test series.

Even after suffering miserably at the hands of India, the misery continued for Lanka when they lost the 1st ODI by 9 wickets after they set a mere target of just 217 runs for the visitors.

Such has been Sri Lanka’s performance that supporters stopped the team bus demanding answers for a shoddy show. Chief Coach Nic Pothas pointed out in no uncertain terms that all is not well within the team, indirectly pointing fingers at the interference from team manager Asanka Gurusinha.

Like it has happened during the past few months, Shikhar Dhawan pummelled the Lankan bowlers into submission with an unbeaten 132.

For skipper Virat Kohli, it was business as usual with an unbeaten 82.

As such, it is tough to foresee any changes to the Indian playing XI. Only one out of five games has been played yet, and even in West Indies, Kohli resisted the urge to chop and change too much.

It is a similar scenario here as well. At Dambulla, India didn’t prefer to go in with either two leg-spinners or two left-arm spinners, thus forming the Chahal-Patel’s orthodox leg break-left arm spin combination.

Additionally, the ODI wickets in Sri Lanka do not afford the luxury of playing three spinners. Thus, unless the Pallekele wicket is exceptionally dry, Kuldeep Yadav can expect to be left out once again, along with Manish Pandey, Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur.

It will be interesting if Kohli shuffles his batting order a bit to give a KL Rahul and Kedar Jadhav, some batting time considering the inept Sri Lankan bowling which has failed to get the ‘Men In Blue’ out.

There have been questions raised about Sri Lanka’s team selection policies.

Test skipper, and one of Sri Lanka’s most attacking batsmen Dinesh Chandimal was left out of the playing XI as ODI captain Upul Tharanga – generally an opener – came out to bat at No 4, where Chandimal bats.

When asked about the influence of team manager Gurusinha and chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya, he came up with the classic “too many cooks” quote.

If the Test series was evidence of the gap between the Nos 1 and 7 ranked teams, then on evidence of the Dambulla game alone, the ICC ODI rankings of India and Sri Lanka – Nos 3 and 8 respectively – are justified too.

This series too has all the makings of another one-sided contest and is not making for a good spectacle for the home fans, who clearly let their displeasure known during the first One Day International.

Sri Lanka need to win two ODIs in this series to make sure that West Indies do not overhaul them in the ODI ranking and gain automatic qualification for the 2019 ODI World Cup before the September 30 deadline.

Teams:

India: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Ajinkya Rahane, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur.

Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga (c), Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Chamara Kapugedera, Milinda Siriwardana, Malinda Pushpakumara, Akila Dananjaya, Lakshan Sandakan, Thisara Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lasith Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera, Vishwa Fernando.