India will begin a new era in white-ball cricket when they clash with Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series starting in Pallekele from Saturday, the 27th of July. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have retired from T20I cricket after the World Cup win in the United States and Caribbean and Suryakumar Yadav will be the new captain for India in T20I cricket. The series will also mark the beginning of the coaching era of Gautam Gambhir who has taken over from Rahul Dravid. India are the number 1 ranked T20I team in the world while Sri Lanka are at number 8. Charith Asalanka will lead a strong Sri Lankan unit which could challenge India in their own backyard.

LAST 5 MATCHES

INDIA - LWWWW

SRI LANKA - WLLAW

LIKELY PLAYING XIs

India are likely to go in with three spinners in Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi. Jaiswal is likely to open with Gill. Sri Lanka too have a strong batting line-up comprising Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Asalanka and Avishka Fernando. The two most dangerous bowlers in their XI will be Hasaranga and Pathirana.

India likely XI

Batters - Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Rinku Singh

All-Rounders - Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel

Wicketkeeper - Rishabh Pant

Bowlers - Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj

Sri Lanka likely XI

Batters - Avishka Fernando, Charith Asalanka, Pathum Nissanka

All-Rounders - Wanindu Hasaranga, Dasun Shanaka

Wicketkeeper - Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal

Bowlers - Matheesha Pathirana, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Binura Fernando

Statistical Performance (India)

1. YASHASVI JAISWAL

Yashasvi Jaiswal has had a great start to his T20I career and already hammered 643 runs in just 19 innings at an average of 37.8 and strike rate of 162.8.

YASHASVI JAISWAL IN T20Is

INNINGS - 19

RUNS - 643

AVERAGE - 37.82

STRIKE RATE - 162.8

50/100 - 5/1

2. RAVI BISHNOI

Ravi Bishnoi is a wicket-taker for India in T20I cricket and could be the trump card with the ball on the spin-friendly Pallekele wicket.

RAVI BISHNOI IN T20Is

INNINGS - 29

WICKETS - 42

STRIKE RATE - 16

ECONOMY RATE - 7.18

AVERAGE - 19.26

Players Who Can Make a Difference (India)

1. RINKU SINGH

Rinku Singh has had a phenomenal start to his T20I career and is a destructive finisher in the death overs. Rinku has a stunning record batting first with 369 runs in 11 innings at an average of 92.3 and strike rate of 182.7.

2. SURYAKUMAR YADAV

SKY is rated as amongst the greatest batters in T20I history and is the Mr 360 degrees of the format for his ability to play shots all across the wicket. SKY has an average of 43.3 and strike rate of 167.7 in T20I cricket.

Statistical Performance (Sri Lanka)

1. AVISHKA FERNANDO

Avishka Fernando has been in red-hot form with the bat and is the leading run-getter amongst Sri Lankan batters in the ongoing Lanka Premier League. Interestingly though, Fernando has a very poor record in T20Is but this series could change those numbers around dramatically!

AVISHKA FERNANDO IN T20Is

INNINGS - 33

RUNS - 341

AVERAGE - 11

STRIKE RATE - 92.9

50/100 - 0/0

2. WANINDU HASARANGA

Wanindu Hasaranga is a world-class spinner and will remain a force at home in the series. Hasaranga has a stunning record in T20Is - he has picked 110 wickets in just 66 innings at a stunning average of 15.4 and strike rate of 13.5!

WANINDU HASARANGA IN T20Is

INNINGS - 66

WICKETS - 110

STRIKE RATE - 13.5

ECONOMY RATE - 6.8

AVERAGE - 15.4

Players Who Can Make a Difference (Sri Lanka)

1. KUSAL MENDIS

Kusal Mendis is a destructive top-order batter who has been in brilliant form in the 2024 Lanka Premier League. Mendis has a strike rate of close to 135 in all T20Is.

2. MATHEESHA PATHIRANA

Pathirana is a specialist in the T20 format and a big wicket-taker with 93 dismissals in 63 encounters at a brilliant strike rate of 13.8.

TEAM HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD

India has dominated Sri Lanka in T20Is and won 19 of the 29 matches between the two countries.

Last 5 T20Is:

India won: 3

Sri Lanka won: 2

All T20Is:

Matches: 29

India won: 19

Sri Lanka won: 9

No result: 1

Venue and Pitch

The Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy has hosted 23 T20Is with the team batting first winning 8 of these encounters. The team chasing has won 12 matches while two matches have been tied. The captain who has won the toss has elected to bat first on 12 occasions and chase on 11 instances. However, it is a good toss to lose in Pallekele as the team which has won the toss has only been victorious in 9 of the 22 result matches for a win probability of 40.9%!

The average score batting first in Pallekele since 2016 is 179 suggesting that it is a high-scoring venue. The average score chasing in the 7 matches in this time-frame is 159. The wicket will be good for batters but will also assist both pace and spin. The fast bowlers have a better strike rate in Pallekele but the spinners have been more economical.

MATCH PREDICTION

India have a very strong batting line-up and a quality spin attack and will start favourites against Sri Lanka. Based on the relative strength of both teams, India have a 65% chance of winning the first T20I in Pallekele.

FANTASY XI

And finally, this is our Fantasy XI. We have 7 players from India and 4 from Sri Lanka. Our batters are Jaiswal, Rinku Singh aur Suryakumar Yadav whereas our all-rounders are Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Hasaranga. The bowlers will include Bishnoi, Theekshana and Arshdeep Singh.

Our backup players include Avishka Fernando as batter, Matheesha Pathirana as bowler and Washington Sundar as all-rounder.

Wicketkeeper: DINESH CHANDIMAL, KUSAL MENDIS

Batters: YASHASVI JAISWAL (C), RINKU SINGH, SURYAKUMAR YADAV

All-rounders: HARDIK PANDYA, AXAR PATEL, WANINDU HASARANGA (VC)

Bowlers: RAVI BISHNOI, MAHEESH THEEKSHANA, ARSHDEEP SINGH

BACKUP PLAYERS:

BATTER - AVISHKA FERNANDO

BOWLER - MATHEESHA PATHIRANA

ALL-ROUNDER - WASHINGTON SUNDAR

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