India will kick off their three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka with the first match at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday. The hosts will have the upper hand over the visiting Lankan side as they have won 11 out of the 16 T20Is against them till date. However, there are some Sri Lankan players who have performed exceptionally well against India on past occasions and will be looking forward to doing equally well this time around. Let’s have a quick glance at those players.
Kusal Perera: The wicketkeeper-batsman has the third-highest number of runs for Sri Lanka in T20Is against India. Perera has scored 174 runs in six innings against India at a healthy average and strike-rate of 29.00 and 148.71 respectively. These runs include two fifties, both of which came in run-chases, and one of them even helped Sri Lanka to register a win over India. As far as overall T20Is are considered, Perera has 1171 runs to his name at an average of 27.88 and that includes 11 scores of fifty-plus as well.
Kusal Mendis: He has been a different beast ever since he started opening in T20Is for Sri Lanka. Mendis has been the highest T20I run-getter for Sri Lanka since 2018. He has scored 399 runs during this period at a decent average of around 25 and his tally of five scores of fifty-plus is the most by any Sri Lankan batsman during this period. Moreover, Mendis has batted in only two innings against India but has a fifty to his name in one of them. So that goes on to tell a lot about his ability as a batsman.
Dasun Shanaka: The Sri Lankan all-rounder has a pretty good bowling record in T20Is against India. He has six wickets to his name in the same number of matches against them at an excellent strike-rate of 9.0 and a mean economy rate of 6.88. Moreover, Shanaka is a decent middle-order batsman as well. He has accumulated the fifth-highest number of runs for Sri Lanka in T20Is since 2018. Only Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera and Danushka Gunathilaka have scored more than Shanaka’s tally of 237 runs (Average: 19.75, Strike-rate: 120.91) during this period.