Sri Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka won the toss and opted to bat first against Rohit Sharma’s India in the third of the three-match ODI series at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka lead the series 1-0 after the first ODI ended in tie.
 
The hosts are leading the series 1-0 and India will be aiming to end the tour on a high by levelling the series as well. 

The visitors have made two changes to their playing XI with Rishabh Pant finally making a comeback to ODI cricket after a long gap while KL Rahul has been dropped. Riyan Parag has also made his ODI debut. 

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka have dropped Akila Dananjaya and included Maheesh Theekshana in the playing XI.

Though the wickets have not been conducive for batting, India’s middle-order batting against Sri Lankan spinners has been concerning. There has been a conscious effort from the team management to keep the left-hand and right-hand combination to counter the spinner threat however, the juggling of the batting order has backfired twice in the series with one tie and one comprehensive defeat while chasing.

As per Sri Lanka, thanks to their efforts from the lower order they have managed to put on competitive scores and their spinners have ruled the roost on dustbowls. 

However, there are areas even they would like to improve upon especially runs from the top order. Additionally winning a series against India after 27 years would be a confidence booster.

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Shreyas Iyer, Riyan Parag, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis(w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka(c), Janith Liyanage, Kamindu Mendis, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando

--Agencies--