Mumbai: It’s been a perfect series for India in every senses of the term barring that one ODI in Dharamsala. Other than that it has been the Virat Kohlis and Rohit Sharmas who have ruled the roost across formats against the Sri Lankans so far. They would look forward to do the same when they lock horns again in the last T20I at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Six years ago at this very venue, it was an entirely different Sri Lankan team that put up a tough fight against the Indians in the final of 2011 World Cup and now, the story is very different. After the retirement of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, the islanders haven’t yet found suitable replacements for the iconic duo and that is quite evident from their string of poor performances.
Also, they would be without their key player- Angelo Mathews in the third and final T20I.
But the story in the Indian camp is quite bright. They have had two huge wins in the T20I series so far and thus the third game gives the management a chance to test their bench strength and field a new look team in Mumbai.
This limited overs’ series has not only been about Rohit Sharma’s form with the bat but also his captaincy. After being decimated in Dharamsala, he led from the front with a record third double hundred in Mohali and hasn’t looked back.
After failing to score big in the first T20I, he bounced back in the second and smashed a record-equalling hundred that helped India put up a mammoth 260 runs on the board. Now with Virat Kohli returning to the side for the South Africa tour, the Mumbai batsman isn’t sure when he’ll get to lead the side and thus wants to make the most of it.
“There’s a lot of pressure. After the first match, there was a lot of pressure on me. In Dharamsala, we were in a position where the team could have folded for the lowest score possible. After that game, I was thinking a lot about my captaincy and my team. Don’t know when I’ll lead India again so, for me, every match, every series and every moment on the field is important,” said Rohit.
It is needless to say who the favourites will be ahead of the dead rubber but Sri Lanka would want to give their best performance and end this disappointing tour on a high.
Probable playing XI (India): Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, MS Dhoni (wk), Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik/Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav/Washington Sundar, Jaydev Unadkat, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah/Basil Thampi.
Probable playing XI (Sri Lanka): Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Upul Tharanga, Kusal Perera, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Danushka Gunathilaka/Dasun Shanaka, Asela Gunaratne, Thisara Perera (c), Chaturanga de Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Pradeep.