India face their neighbouring rivals Sri Lanka in the first of three ODIs at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. The Men in Blue enter the series with confidence, having beaten the Asia Cup defending champions 2-1 in the T20I series, but will be wary of the threat that the Sri Lankans possess, having lost the second game in the recently-concluded series.
With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returning to the side, Sri Lanka's skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and chose to bowl first. They have made one important change to the side, with Dilshan Madushanka handed his ODI debut and Dunith Wellalage coming in at the expense of Maheesh Theekshana.
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Speaking during the toss after choosing to chase the game, Shanaka said, “We are going to bowl first, because of the dew at night. It was a good boost, the way we played in the T20Is.”
Meanwhile, Rohit shared his disappointment at the prospect of batting first, but is looking forward to the challenge upon his return from break. “We are happy to bat first. We would have liked to bowl as well, it's a good challenge. The ground was flooded with dew yesterday. There will be times where we need to bowl under dew, we got to be ready for that with the World Cup around the corner. It's about doing the basics right, it's important to do things differently at times. We need to keep moving in the right direction. Had a great time playing an ODI here last time, hope we'll have another memorable game today,” the India skipper said after the toss.
India's Playing XI
Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Umran Malik, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Sri Lanka's Playing XI
Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis(w), Avishka Fernando, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka(c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka
