The limited-overs series between India and Sri Lanka will commence on July 18 after the clearance from the Sri Lankan government. The series was in doubt, due to two members from the Sri Lankan team testing positive due to COVID-19. Due to precautionary measures, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had decided to create two separate teams in different cities to minimize the threat of the deadly virus.
Now, after the clearance, the first ODI will be played on July 18, but with a little change in the timings. Instead of 3:00 pm, the ODI matches will now begin at 2:30 pm. After the completion of the ODIs, the T20Is will soon be followed and the matches will begin at 7:00 pm, instead of 8:00 pm.
Now with things moving in the right direction, the SLC is all set to host Team India, who will be captained by Shikhar Dhawan. All the live matches will be streamed on the Sony network and the matches will be aired in five different languages as well. All the matches will be played at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.
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The Indian team is sweating it out by playing intra-squad games and training hard under the watchful eyes of head coach Rahul Dravid. With the series hardly a week away, the experts VVS Laxman and Irfan Pathan have given their verdict on the playing XI for India during the ODI matches
Laxman has included Manish Pandey at number six and has also included both Hardik and Krunal in his playing XI. He said, “Well, it’s a very detailed squad, a 20-man squad. But I will go with Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, the No.3 batsman would be Suryakumar Yadav. At No.4 will be Sanju Samson in ODIs, No.5 will be Manish Pandey, at No.6 I will go with Hardik Pandya, No.7 Krunal Pandya. I will have two fast bowlers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar and two spinners will be Kuldeep and Chahal. This is my ODI XI.”
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On the other hand, Pathan seems to have preferred Nitish Rana over Krunal and added two fast bowlers and two spinners in his playing XI.
Irfan had said, “Only one change I would like, Hardik Pandya is bowling, so I will have him as an all-rounder, one more batsman I will add – Nitish Rana in place of Krunal. Apart from that same, because I will like to see Hardik Pandya bowl quite a few number of overs.”
