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Match Details
Date: July 28, 2021
Time: 8:00 pm (IST)
Venue: R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Live Ball-by-Ball Commentary: SportsTiger App
Preview:
Sri Lanka will be up against India in the second T20I of the three-match series on Wednesday. While the Men in Blue eventually managed to win the first game comfortably, the home team did have their moments in the first match and they would look to improve on their mistakes and force the fate of the series into the decider. Avishka Fernando and Charith Asalanka have proven themselves against India and the hosts could look to bring Bhanuka Rajapaksa in place of Ashen Bhandara in this match.
For India, they wouldn't have ideally looked to make too many changes to the side since the series isn't decided yet. But with India all-rounder Krunal Pandya testing positive for COVID-19 and 8 others told to remain in isolation, cricketers Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore and Simarjeet Singh, who were all taken to Sri Lanka as net bowlers, have been added to the main squad for the remainder of the series. A few of them are likely to be part of the team for both matches. The players unavailable other than Krunal Pandya are Deeepak Chahar, Prithvi Shaw, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya , Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan.
Sri Lanka vs India Head-to-Head:
Played: 20
Sri Lanka: 5
India: 14
No Result: 1
Players to watch out for:
Shikhar Dhawan: With his team in a spot of bother now after the COVID-19 crisis and fresh faces all around him, Dhawan would look to lead from the front and give India a solid start around which the team could revolve. Dhawan did manage to play a match-winning innings in the opening ODI but would look to bat longer in the T20 format too and make an impact with his ever-improving strike rate, especially if Shaw and Suryakumar are not available.
Charith Asalanka: He has been one of the bright spots in the Sri Lankan team and would have to take up the responsibility for his team yet again in the remaining two matches if the island country has to put up a spirited show. He was the leading run-getter in the first T20I and looked good for his 44 at a strike rate of 169.23. Had this innings continued a bit longer, it would have been trouble for the Indian side.
Probable Playing XI
Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Minod Bhanuka (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka (c), Ashen Bandara/ Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera
India: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana, Krishnappa Gowtham, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Chetan Sakariya, Navdeep Saini