India vs Sri Lanka Predictions, Best Bets, Odds

India: Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha/Dilshan Madushanka

Sri Lanka Look Settled While India Turn a New Leaf in T20 Cricket  

The series kicked off with India holding their nerve in a thriller at the Wankhede on Tuesday. Edging Sri Lanka by two runs on a difficult wicket, India go into the second game with a 1-0 lead.

For India, with quite a lot of new players, this series is a new beginning. Several reports suggest that the Indian cricket team could be moving away from the old guard under the leadership of Hardik Pandya, keeping in mind the next T20 World Cup. 

India recently toured New Zealand for three T20Is without senior players, which they won 1-0 after a match was washed off and one ended in a tie. The men in blue are without Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer. 

Sri Lanka are coming off the Lanka Premier League with several players having impressive campaigns. The last time before this series when these two teams met in T20s was in the Asia Cup, where Sri Lanka defeated India by six wickets. In early 2022, India had hammered the Lankan lions by 3-0. 

Team News

India are without their senior players which opens up opportunities for younger players. Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya will be the mainstays in middle order, with other spots are up for grabs. Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rahul Tripathi are vying for the three top order spots while Deepak Hooda, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar are fighting for one spot. Chahal’s poor showing in the first game could mean Sundar playing alongside Axar as the only two spinners. The three seamers in the playing XI are likely to be Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik. 

Sri Lanka have a pretty similar squad to their World Cup campaign. Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis will form the opening pair, with Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Dasun Shanaka, who played a major role in bringing the first game close, in the middle order. Dhananjaya de Silva didn't have a great LPL and was dismissed cheaply in Mumbai and could lose his spot to Sadeera Samarawickrama, who was impressive in that tournament. Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana form the spin attack while they have several contenders in pace unit with the likes Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka, Pramod Madushan and Nuwan Thushara. 

Key Players 

Suryakumar Yadav would want to pick up where he left off in the previous year. While he was dismissed trying a fancy shot in the first game, Suryakumar rarely goes two games in a row without a big score. The dynamic Indian batter was sensational for India in 2022, amassing 1164 runs at an average of 47 while striking at a mind-boggling rate of 187. Suryakumar smashed two T20I hundreds and nine fifties in the year. 

Wanindu Hasaranga had a pretty good campaign in the recent LPL, where he picked 10 wickets at an economy of 6.41. He also smashed 77 not-out in just 34 balls in Qualifier 2. Hasaranga has a terrific record in T20I cricket with 86 wickets in 52 matches at 6.67 rpo, striking every 13 balls.