Debasis Sen, Colombo: India will look to avenge their defeat as they take on the Sri Lankans in the second leg fixture of the Nidahas Trophy here on Monday. The hosts were successful in breaking the jinx as they got the better of the Indians by 5 wickets in the first match of the tournament.
The Indians on the other hand will be looking to record their second win of the tournament, following its victory against Bangladesh. However the only concern for the Indians will be their out of form captain Rohit Sharma. The stand-in skipper, possibly the most prolific white ball player after regular leader Virat Kohli, has gone off the boil since the start of the South Africa series.
Rohit will look to score heavily to get his confidence back. The Mumbai batsman has scored only 17,0, 11, 0 and 21 in the last five T20 matches.
Another player desperately looking to get a big score is Suresh Raina. The left hander’s weakness to short incoming ball was exposed in the last match against Bangladesh. Raina was seen having a long session with batting coach Sanjay Bangar trying to get the footwork right against the short pitched ball aimed at his ribs.
It will be interesting to see whether the team management gives Rishabh Pant another game in the tournament. Touted as Dhoni’s successor, Pant is yet to do justice to his immense potential till now. With someone like KL Rahul waiting for his chance, time is running out for the burly youngster from Rourkee.
The Karnataka batsman has been out of favour since the T20 series in South Africa. Rahul’s presence gives his skipper an option to use him as an opener and himself come at No 4, dropping Pant from the XI.
Tomorrow’s match would provide India with a chance to make amends for the mistakes they committed against the Islanders in the opener.
The tournament is currently evenly poised as all the three teams have won a game each from two outings but Sri Lanka are leading the table on net run rate ahead of India and Bangladesh. But a win tomorrowwould take India to the top, dislodging the Lankans.
The biggest positive for India has been the imperious form of opener Shikhar Dhawan. The left hander who opted out of the training session today has two back-to-back half-centuries against his name in the tournament. After his 49-ball 90 in the opener against Sri Lanka, Dhawan made 55 off 43 deliveries to help India chase down Bangladesh’s below-par 140 total with consummate ease in the last game.
Among other Indian batsmen, Manish Pandey (37, 27) looked in good nick.
On the bowling front, Washington Sundar has been impressive. The Tamil Nadu off spinner was asked to open the bowling with Jaydev Unadkat. The Sourashtra bowler has picked up four wickets in two matches so far but leaked runs which is not expected while spearheading the attack.
The young and inexperienced Indian bowlers have done a decent job so far with the likes of Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal and Vijay Shankar living upto their expectations.