Internet Desk: A star-studded India cricket team will be eyeing to complete a 5-0 whitewash when they face a depleted Sri Lankan side in the fifth and final ODI at Colombo on Sunday. Virat Kohli led Indian cricket team had already beaten the Lankans in the Test series by 3-0 and now they are looking to repeat the story again in the ODI series.
Unfortunately star opener Shikhar Dhawan won’t be a part of the team tomorrow as will be leaving for home tomorrow to attend his ailing mother. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement that the opener will be flying back to India and as such will be available for the remaining two matches of the series. The statement also added that Shikhar’s mother is stable and is recovering well.
It can well be a blessing in disguise for the team management as they can now try Ajinkya Rahane to open the batting with Rohit Sharma. Rahane has earlier opened the batting in Indian Premier League (IPL) for Rising Pune Supergiants. The team management also has the choice of asking KL Rahul to open, the batsman having struggled after being slotted into the middle order. Rahane, who was the Man-of-the-Series in the West Indies, is yet to play a game in this series.
If the hosts lost the last match against India tomorrow, they will face their second back to back ODI series loss against the Men in Blue by a margin of 5-0. Both the sides last played a bilateral series in November 2014, where the Lankan side faced a 5-0 loss.
The hosts are in serious trouble as they have already lost the opportunity to make an automatic qualification for the forthcoming 2019 World Cup after they failed to register two wins in the 5-match ODI series.
Considering sterner opposition, India previously beat New Zealand and England 5-0 in 2010-11 and 2012-13 respectively, both series’ wins coming at home.
In fact, England are the only side to lose 5-0 twice to India (in 2008-09 as well) in the last decade, so the Men in Blue will be eager to add another entry to this short list.
There are no injury concerns and the same playing combination can expect to be retained tomorrow, with the likes of Manish Pandey, Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur given a further opportunity to impress.
Additionally, coach Ravi Shastri had spoken yesterday about the need to carefully manage workloads of bowlers across formats. It remains to be seen if Hardik Pandya will be given a break in this light, and Kedar Jadhav afforded another chance to impress, ahead of a long limited-overs’ schedule at home.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka are expected to make at least one chance to their playing XI. Skipper Upul Tharanga will be back in charge of affairs after sitting out the last two games owing to his suspension for slow-over rate. He is expected to slot into the middle order once again and Lahiru Thirimanne might be asked to open the innings instead.
It remains to be seen if the Lankan captain can inspire a serious challenge in this fifth ODI after a lacklustre summer. Most of all though, after two suspensions in three months, Tharanga will be looking to complete the 50 overs within the stipulated time.