India will clash with Sri Lanka in the three-match ODI series starting in Colombo on Friday. Rohit Sharma will be back at the helm to lead India in the ODI format. The series will also see the return of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav. Sri Lanka will be led by Charith Asalanka. India will be the favourites going into the series having swept the T20I leg 3-0. India is ranked number 1 in the ICC ODI Rankings whereas Sri Lanka are at number 7.

LAST 5 MATCHES

INDIA - WLWLW

SRI LANKA - WWLWL

LIKELY PLAYING XIs

India will have their two ODI greats - Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli back in the mix. The fast bowling will be led by Siraj and Arshdeep while Kuldeep Yadav will lead the spin brigade. Sri Lanka may fill their XI with three to four spinners.

Sri Lanka likely XI

Batters - Charith Asalanka, Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama

All-Rounders - Wanindu Hasaranga

Wicketkeeper - Kusal Mendis

Bowlers - Matheesha Pathirana, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Dilshan Madushanka, Akila Dananjaya

India likely XI

Batters - Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli

All-Rounders - Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Riyan Parag

Wicketkeeper - Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul

Bowlers - Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav

Statistical Performance (India)

1. VIRAT KOHLI

Virat Kohli is unarguably rated amongst the three greatest batters in ODI cricket history along with Tendulkar and Viv Richards and has a great record against Sri Lanka with an average of 63.3 and 10 hundreds against them!

VIRAT KOHLI IN ODIs

INNINGS - 280

RUNS - 13848

AVERAGE - 58.67

STRIKE RATE - 93.58

50/100 - 72/50

2. ROHIT SHARMA

Rohit Sharma is one of the greatest openers ever in ODI cricket history who rose to the pinnacle in the 2019 and 2023 World Cups. He also has a fine record against Sri Lanka with an average of 45.5 and 6 hundreds!

ROHIT SHARMA IN ODIs

INNINGS - 254

RUNS - 10709

AVERAGE - 49.12

STRIKE RATE - 91.97

50/100 - 55/31

Players Who Can Make a Difference (India)

1. Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill has had a terrific start to his ODI career and has scored 2271 runs in just 44 innings at an average of 61.37 and strike rate of 103.46 with 6 hundreds and 13 fifties. He was the leading run-getter in the world in the format in 2023.

2. Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav is a big wicket-taker in ODI cricket with a stupendous record in the format. He has picked 168 wickets in 100 appearances for India at an average of 26.01, strike rate of 30.8 and economy of 5.05!

Statistical Performance (Sri Lanka)

1. PATHUM NISSANKA

Pathum Nissanka has a fine record for Sri Lanka in ODI cricket and will be crucial at the top of the order. He has been in fine form in ODIs with an aggregate of 1648 runs in 35 matches since 2023 at an average of 53.16 and strike rate of 95.64 with 5 hundreds.

PATHUM NISSANKA IN ODIs

INNINGS - 55

RUNS - 2225

AVERAGE - 44.5

STRIKE RATE - 90.96

50/100 - 13/6

2. DILSHAN MADUSHANKA

Dilshan Madushanka has had a brilliant start to his ODI career and already bagged 41 wickets in just 23 matches at a strike rate of 25.3! He can cause serious damage with the new ball.

DILSHAN MADUSHANKA IN ODIs

INNINGS - 23

WICKETS - 41

AVERAGE - 24.87

ECONOMY RATE - 5.89

STRIKE RATE - 25.3

Players Who Can Make a Difference (Sri Lanka)

1. MAHEESH THEEKSHANA

Maheesh Theekshana will be crucial with the new ball in the powerplay and is also very restrictive in the format. He has picked 55 wickets in 41 matches at an economy rate of 4.63 in ODI cricket.

2. SADEERA SAMARAWICKRAMA

Sadeera Samarawickrama has had a decent start to his ODI career and has an aggregate of 1170 runs in 38 innings at an average of 35.45 and strike rate of 95.66 with one ton and 8 fifties. He is a dashing stroke-maker who can cause damage in the middle-overs.

PLAYER MATCH-UPS

1. ROHIT SHARMA vs DILSHAN MADUSHANKA IN ODIs

INNINGS - 2

BALLS FACED - 13

RUNS SCORED - 12

STRIKE RATE - 92.3

DISMISSALS - 2

Rohit Sharma has had trouble against left-arm pace and his battle with Madushanka in the powerplay will set the tone for the match. The left-armer has dismissed him twice in as many innings.

2. VIRAT KOHLI vs WANINDU HASARANGA IN ODIs

INNINGS - 5

BALLS FACED - 69

RUNS SCORED - 71

STRIKE RATE - 102.89

DISMISSALS - 0

Virat Kohli's tussle with Wanindu Hasaranga in the middle-overs will have a big impact on the outcome of the encounter. It is King Kohli who has so far dominated Hasaranga in ODI cricket.

3. PATHUM NISSANKA VS MOHAMMED SIRAJ IN ODIs

INNINGS - 2

BALLS FACED - 8

RUNS SCORED - 4

STRIKE RATE - 50

DISMISSALS - 1

Nissanka has a good record in ODIs and has been in fine form with the bat. His battle with Siraj in the powerplay will be vital for Sri Lanka.

TEAM HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD

Team India has dominated Sri Lanka in ODIs and won 99 of the 168 matches between the two countries. India have won their last 5 encounters against Sri Lanka and astonishingly two of them, by a margin of over 300 runs!

INDIA v SRI LANKA - HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD

MATCHES INDIA WON SL WON NO RESULT

LAST 5 ODIs 5 5 0 0

ALL ODIs 168 99 57 11

VENUE AND PITCH

The Premadasa Stadium in Colombo has hosted 19 ODI matches since the start of 2020 with the honours being shared equally by the team batting first and chasing - both have won 9 games each in this time-frame while one match has been called off due to rain. Batting first has been a preference at the venue and the team winning the toss has elected to set a target as many as 15 times during this period. The captain who has won the toss has won just 5 matches and lost 13 in this time-frame for a win probability of 27.8%.

The average total batting first in Colombo since 2020 is 244 while the average score chasing is 206. Incidentally, the highest team score batting first at the venue in this time-frame is India's 356 for 2 against Pakistan in the Asia Cup last year. The lowest total is Sri Lanka's 50 in the 2023 Asia Cup Final against India.

The pitch at the Premadasa will assist the spinners. While the pacers may have a better strike rate, it is the slower bowlers who have been more restrictive at the venue.

MATCH PREDICTION

India will once again start favorites in the first ODI and have a 70% chance of winning the encounter. India have a devastating batting line-up and some high-quality spinners in their contingent too. Sri Lanka will be heavily dependent on Nissanka and Asalanka to score the runs.

FANTASY XI

We have 6 players from India and 5 from Sri Lanka in our fantasy XI. The batters include Kohli, Rohit, Nissanka and Asalanka whereas our all-rounders are Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Hasaranga. The bowlers will be Pathirana, Madushanka and Kuldeep. The wicket-keeper will be Rishabh Pant. Virat Kohli will be the captain of the fantasy XI while Nissanka will be the vice-captain.

Our backup players include Avishka Fernando as batter, Theekshana as bowler and Parag as all-rounder.

Fantasy XI

Wicketkeeper: RISHABH PANT

Batters: PATHUM NISSANKA (VC), VIRAT KOHLI (C), ROHIT SHARMA, CHARITH ASALANKA

All-rounders: WASHINGTON SUNDAR, WANINDU HASARANGA, AXAR PATEL

Bowlers: MATHEESHA PATHIRANA, DILSHAN MADUSHANKA, KULDEEP YADAV

BACKUP PLAYERS:

BATTER - AVISHKA FERNANDO

BOWLER - MAHEESH THEEKSHANA

ALL-ROUNDER - RIYAN PARAG

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