India will clash with Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Wednesday. The series has been a tough one for the Rohit Sharma-led Indian unit who have been given a run for their money by a talented Sri Lankan unit. India have thrown away the match from dominating positions in both the encounters so far - while the first clash ended in a thrilling tie, Sri Lanka came out victorious in the second by 32 runs. With the exception of Rohit Sharma, no other Indian batter has impressed thus far in the series. The team will hope that the batters will put in their best foot forward in the third ODI and level the series at 1-1.

LAST 5 MATCHES

SRI LANKA - LWLTW

INDIA - WLWTL

LIKELY PLAYING XIs

Both teams are expected to fill their XIs with spinners given the nature of the wicket. India may drop Shivam Dube and play Riyan Parag in order to use his bowling in the encounter. Sri Lanka do not have the services of ace-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga who is out due to an injury but have a barrage of spinners in their XI. Theekshana might replace Liyanage.

India likely XI

Batters - Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer

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

Wicketkeeper - KL Rahul

Bowlers - Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav

Sri Lanka likely XI

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

All-Rounders - Kamindu Mendis, Dunith Wellalage

Wicketkeeper - Kusal Mendis

Bowlers - Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando, Akila Dananjaya, Maheesh Theekshana

Statistical Performance (India)

1. ROHIT SHARMA

Rohit Sharma has been brilliant in the powerplay for India in the series and given India ballistic starts in both the matches. The captain is continuing to follow the aggressive template as we witnessed in the 2023 World Cup at home.

ROHIT SHARMA IN CURRENT SERIES

2. WASHINGTON SUNDAR

Washington Sundar has been the pick of the Indian bowlers and made use of the favourable conditions for spinners in Colombo in the series.

WASHINGTON SUNDAR IN CURRENT SERIES

Players Who Can Make a Difference (India)

1. KULDEEP YADAV

Kuldeep Yadav will be critical for India in the middle overs on a spinner-friendly Colombo wicket. He has an exceptional record in ODIs with 171 scalps in just 102 innings at an average of a shade under 26 and strike rate of 31!

2. VIRAT KOHLI

Virat Kohli is amongst the three greatest batters in the format and will look to score big in the final ODI to help India level the series. Kohli has a sensational record against Sri Lanka with an aggregate of 2632 runs in 53 innings at an average of 61.2 and strike rate of 93.56 with 10 hundreds.

Statistical Performance (Sri Lanka)

1. JEFFREY VANDERSAY

Jeffrey Vandersay ran through the Indian batting line-up in the second ODI bagging six wickets. He will be a handful in helpful conditions in Colombo.

JEFFREY VANDERSAY IN CURRENT SERIES

2. DUNITH WELLALAGE

Dunith Wellalage has shone with the bat for Sri Lanka and is their leading run-getter in the series with an aggregate of 106 runs in two innings. He will also open the bowling with his slow left-arm orthodox.

DUNITH WELLALAGE IN CURRENT SERIES

Players Who Can Make a Difference (Sri Lanka)

1. CHARITH ASALANKA

Charith Asalanka has made a big impact in the series with his bowling and already picked six wickets in two matches at an average of 8.3 and economy of just 3.3!

2. 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 1704 runs in 37 matches since 2023 at an average of 51.63 and strike rate of 94.7 with 5 hundreds.

PLAYER MATCH-UPS

1. ROHIT SHARMA vs DUNITH WELLALAGE IN ODIs

Rohit Sharma has adopted an attacking template in the powerplay and it will be interesting to see how he counters Dunith Wellalage in the first 6 overs.

INNINGS - 4

BALLS FACED - 41

RUNS SCORED - 48

STRIKE RATE - 117.07

DISMISSALS - 2

2. VIRAT KOHLI vs JEFFREY VANDERSAY IN ODIs

Virat Kohli's tussle with Jeffrey Vandersay in the middle overs will define the outcome of the match.

INNINGS - 2

BALLS FACED - 24

RUNS SCORED - 29

STRIKE RATE - 120.83

DISMISSALS - 1

3. CHARITH ASALANKA VS KULDEEP YADAV IN ODIs

Charith Asalanka has struggled against Kuldeep Yadav and their clash in the middle overs will be crucial in the match.

INNINGS - 6

BALLS FACED - 93

RUNS SCORED - 61

STRIKE RATE - 65.6

DISMISSALS - 3

TEAM HEAD TO HEAD RECORD

India has dominated Sri Lanka in ODIs and won 99 of the 170 matches between the two countries.

VENUE AND PITCH

The Premadasa Stadium in Colombo has hosted 21 ODI matches since the start of 2020 with the team batting first winning 10 matches and the team chasing winning 9 encounters in this time-frame. There has been a tie and one match has been called off due to bad weather. Batting first has been a big preference here in Colombo with the captain winning the toss electing to set a target on as many as 17 occasions in 21 matches! Even in this series, Charith Asalanka won the toss and elected to bat first in both the matches. However, winning the toss is not lucky in Colombo - the captain who has won the toss has won just 6 matches and lost 13 in this time-frame for a win probability of just 30%.

The average total batting first in Colombo since 2020 is 243 while the average score chasing is 207. 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 wicket at Premadasa is very helpful for the spinners especially in the second innings. It is a turning track which has made batting very difficult after the first 10 overs. The spinners have picked 28 wickets in the series at an average of 20.4, strike rate of 28.7 and economy of 4.26. The pacers, meanwhile, have bagged just 6 wickets at an average of 50.5 and economy of 5.4!

MATCH PREDICTION

It is going to be a tight contest with massive advantage to the team batting first - this will make the toss very critical in Colombo on Wednesday. Sri Lanka have the edge in bowling as they have four to five options in spin. However, India have a more destructive batting unit. Expect India to make a strong comeback and tie the series. They have a 60% chance of winning the match.

FANTASY XI

And finally, this is our Fantasy XI. We have 6 players from India and 5 from Sri Lanka. Our batters are Kohli, Rohit, Nissanka aur Asalanka whereas our all-rounders are Axar Patel, Sundar, Wellalage and Kamndu Mendis. The bowlers will include Vandersay and Kuldeep. The wicket-keeper will be KL Rahul. The captain will be Dunith Wellalage while the vice-captain will be Washington Sundar.

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

Fantasy XI

Wicketkeeper: KL RAHUL

Batters: PATHUM NISSANKA, VIRAT KOHLI, ROHIT SHARMA, CHARITH ASALANKA

All-rounders: KAMINDU MENDIS, AXAR PATEL, WASHINGTON SUNDAR (VC), DUNITH WELLALAGE (C)

Bowlers: KULDEEP YADAV, JEFFREY VANDERSAY

BACKUP PLAYERS:

BATTER - AVISHKA FERNANDO

BOWLER - MAHEESH THEEKSHANA

ALL-ROUNDER - RIYAN PARAG

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