SL vs Ind, Nidahas Trophy Preview: India favourites against Sri Lanka

Colombo: India, the number three ranked T20 International machinery, will start as favourites among Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the tri-nation Nidahas Trophy series, beginning Tuesday at the the R. Premadasa Stadium here.

After a successful and testing tour of South Africa, a new-look team India led by Rohit Sharma has geared up to take on Sri Lanka in the opening Twenty20 International match.

The decision of BCCI to rest some of the senior players like regular captain Virat Kohli and the veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni, pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Hardik Pandya, gave the chance to some promising young players to make their mark.

Players like Washington Sundar, Vijay Shankar, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda and Mohammad Siraj were included in the squad, which could give a trouble times to both the team in the series.

So in the upcoming match, the young Indian team will look to get their team combination right.

Also read: IPL 11: Will emulate Virat in leading from the front, says Dinesh Karthik

On the other hand, injuries have taken the front seat for the hosts before the start of the series as Asela Gunaratne, Shehan Madushanka and Angelo Mathews were ruled out. Now it all depends on Dinesh Chandimal, Upul Tharanga, Thisara Perera and Suranga Lakmal to get the team going.

The return of Kusal Perera, who missed Bangladesh T20Is due to injury, will also be an advantage of the hosts.

So after a disastrous 2017, the Islanders will look to give some quality performances to shut down their critics.

India Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj and Rishabh Pant (wk).

Sri Lanka Squad: Dinesh Chandimal (Captain), Suranga Lakmal (vice-captain), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Janith Perera, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Amila Aponso, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera, Dhananjaya De Silva.