After a successful series against the West Indies at home, India will be locking horns with Sri Lanka for three T20Is and a couple of Test series. The T20I series gets underway from the 24th of February while the Test series will be commencing on March 4. The first T20I will be played at Ekana Stadium, Lucknow while the next two will be played at HPCA Stadium, Dharamshala. India whitewashed the West Indies side in the 3-match T20I series. On the other hand, Sri Lanka lost their recent T20I series to Australia 4-1. 

For the Indian team, Jadeja, Samson, and Jasprit Bumrah will be making a comeback. Bumrah has also been adorned with the added responsibility of vice-captain, with Rohit Sharma as his main man. Sri Lanka has also prepared a pretty strong side for this series, with Dasun Shanaka as its leader. However, Avishka Fernando, Nuwan Thushara, and Ramesh Mendis will be missing the series due to injuries.

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India recently regained their number one spot in the ICC Men’s T20I rankings while the Sri Lankan team is standing ninth on the rankings. These two teams have met each other a total of 19 times in this format, where India won 13 matches while Sri Lanka won 5 matches. Both the teams have a bunch of youngsters on their side and it would be interesting to see who comes at the top.

India

India had gone in with four pacers in the last game along with the all-around option of Venkatesh Iyer, who eventually took a couple of wickets as well. Considering that he did a good job, India might consider giving him an extended role with the ball against Sri Lanka. Jadeja’s availability adds depth to the batting order. Ruturaj Gaikwad partnered with Ishan Kishan at the opening position in the last game, with Shreyas Iyer batting at No. 3 and Rohit at 4. 

Probable XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Rohit Sharma (C), Sanju Samson, Venkatesh Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshal Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah

Sri Lanka

A Rapid Antigen Test and a PCR test confirmed that Hasaranga still had traces of the virus, and he is currently in isolation in Australia and is unlikely to be part of the T20I series. While Sri Lanka employed pacers more in Australia than the spinners, the slower tracks are likely to bring the likes of Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, and Maheesh Theekshana (if available) more into play. Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara are likely to man the pace department with Shanaka indicating that he will bowl when required.

Probable XI: Pathum Nissanka, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kamil Mishara (WK), Dinesh Chandimal, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka (C), Chamika Karunaratne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara

Fantasy Suggestion 1:

Ishan Kishan (vc), Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Rohit Sharma (c), Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Venkatesh Iyer, Dasun Shanaka, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshal Patel, Maheesh Theekshana

Fantasy Suggestion 2:

Ishan Kishan, Pathum Nissanka (VC), Rohit Sharma, Charith Asalanka, Ravindra Jadeja (C), Venkatesh Iyer, Chamika Karunaratne, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshal Patel, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi