Team Sri Lanka won the toss for the first ODI and opted to bowl first as the skipper Shanaka explains his reason for the choice taken –
Dasun Shanaka: We are going to bowl first, because of the dew at night. It was a good boost, the way we played in the T20Is. Dilshan Madushanka is making his debut today.
Although the hosts lost the toss, skipper Rohit Sharma was satisfied with the toss as team India’s strategy was to bat first with the big three – Virat, KL Rahul, and Rohit returning for the critical format which will also be a golden opportunity to prepare for the upcoming significant tournaments – Asia Cup, and ICC World Cup 2023.
Rohit Sharma: We are happy to bat first. We would have liked to bowl as well, it’s a good challenge. The ground was flooded with dew yesterday. There will be times where we need to bowl under dew, we got to be ready for that with the World Cup around the corner. It’s about doing the basics right, it’s important to do things differently at times. We need to keep moving in the right direction. Had a great time playing an ODI here last time, hope we’ll have another memorable game today.
The only element in the lineup is that team India and the management has preferred Umran Malik with Siraj and Shami, instead of picking Arshdeep Singh, who is a decent record in the T20Is but is yet to take a wicket in the ODI format.
While Umran Malik has 7 wickets, both the pacers lack experience as of now but with India trying out in the top unit and benching in-form Ishan Kishan, a similar thought could have been applied to the pacer’s slot as Jasprit Bumrah’s unavailability for the series can provide these youngsters to showcase their best for the ICC World Cup 2023 selections.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Umran Malik, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
