- SportsTak

Having bagged back-to-back series sweep, India lock horns with Sri Lanka in the first T20 as Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and opted to bowl first. The star young gun Deepak Hooda has been handed the maiden T20I cap as Sanju Samson has found a place in India's playing XI as Ruturaj Gaikwad's replacement as Ruturaj complained of pain in his right wrist, which is affecting his batting. He was unavailable for selection for the first T20I. The BCCI Medical Team is examining him.

“We were looking to chase as well, not sure how the pitches in India plays. But we now know we need to bat well, the last time we played here, about 4 years back, the pitch played well. Nothing changes as far as the goals of the team are concerned, need to do the right things as a team, need to keep ticking all the right boxes. It's a challenge for the new gutsy - from the last game we played, we have 6 changes. Ruturaj was supposed to play, but he has a wrist injury and will not play today,” India's captain Rohit Sharma said.

“We'll bowl, it's a very good pitch, we have been bowling well in the last few games, so backing our strengths. Have had a couple of days to recover. We have a couple of injuries - Chandimal and Vandersay are in, they replace Theekshana and Kusal Mendis,” Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka said before the match.

Rohit has been sensational in the recently concluded three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka which the Men in Blue won 3-0. However, the team suffered a huge blow ahead of the T20 series against Sri Lanka as both Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Chahar have been ruled out of due to injuries. Although, the return of Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah will bolster the Indian line-up and this also paved the path for some of the young guns, especially this being a T20 World Cup year. Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli have been released from the bio-bubble and will not be part of this series, although both will be back for the Tests.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka were also jolted as their star player Wanindu Hasaranga has been ruled out of entire series after testing positive for Covid-19 again. Lankan squad have their task cut out as they face the inform India in their own backyard.

Sri Lanka and their young but talented outfit would view this series as an opportunity to redress some balance issues, which plagued them during the recent 1-4 series loss down under.

IND vs SL head to head in T20I
Total matches- 22
India won - 14
Sri Lanka - 7
NR - 1

India captain Rohit can go past Virat Kohli and Martin Guptill to become the highest run-getter in T20Is.

Rohit Sharma– 3263 runs
Virat Kohli– 3296 runs
Martin Guptill– 3299 runs

Spinner Yuzvendra Chahal needs 1 wicket to go past Jasprit Bumrah to become India’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is

Yuzvendra Chahal– 66 (52 matches)
Jasprit Bumrah– 66 (55)
Ravichandran Ashwin -61 (51)
Bhuvneshwar Kumar– 55 (57)

India's Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Sri Lanka Playing XI: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Charith Asalanka, Dinesh Chandimal(w), Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka(c), Chamika Karunaratne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara.