Following a four-wicket defeat in the second T20I, a depleted Indian team will take on Sri Lanka in the series decider at the R Premadasa stadium, Colombo, on Thursday. With just four specialist batters available for selection along with wicketkeeper Sanju Samson, it is going to be a stiff ask for India to tackle the Sri Lankan slow bowlers on a spin-friendly surface. India are unbeaten in eight bilateral T20I series, and Shikhar Dhawan and his boys need to play out their skin in order to maintain that track record.
Navdeep Saini had not bowled a single ball in the second T20I. He did not bat either, and injured himself on the field towards the fag end of the game. He is likely to be ruled out of the decider. India have already added the five net bowlers to their main squad, and will have to pick one of them to complete XI.
Punjab pacer Arshdeep Singh or Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore are the best options to fill that spot. Considering the slowness of the surface, the odds are loaded towards the latter.
For Sri Lanka, Isuru Udana had bowled one over and injured himself while fielding during the second T20I. His fitness report is still pending. If he does not make it, one of Pravin Jayawickrama or Lakshan Sandakan may come in to add heft to the Sri Lankan spin department, which already has the likes of Akila Dananjaya, Dhananjaya de Silva, Ramesh Mendis and Wanindu Hasaranga.
Head to head:
Out of the 21 T20I encounters between the two sides India have beaten Sri Lanka on 14 occasions and lost 6.
– India are clearly short in batting fire-power. Hence, you should pick most of their batters (especially the top four), who will try to play risk-free cricket for major part of their innings. That way you can maximise your batting points.
– The used pitch has assisted slow bowlers a lot, so get as many as possible. Dhananjaya, who bats in the top four and can bowl handy off-spin, can be your ideal all-rounder, as can be Hasaranga.
– Throughout these white-ball games, Minod Bhanuka has done exceptionally well. You can have him as a second ’keeper along with Sanju Samson.
Likely XIs
India: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (wk), Nitish Rana, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Sai Kishore, Chetan Sakariya, Varun Chakravarthy
Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Minod Bhanuka (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dasun Shanaka (c), Ramesh Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Pravin Jayawickrama, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera
Prediction
Under-pressure India to play some exceptional cricket and clinch the series following a closely fought contest.