Sri Lanka vs India 2021, 1st ODI: Weather forecast for match at Colombo – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

A bunch of fresh faces will be desperate for a fair T20 World Cup audition when India’s different-looking yet formidable white-ball squad face an under-fire Sri Lanka in the six-match limited-overs contest, beginning with the first ODI on Sunday.

Winning any international series will be paramount but one can expect a few combinations being tried out during a series that got delayed by five days due to the COVID-19 scare in the Sri Lankan camp. The series comprises three ODIs and as many T20s.

India vs Sri Lanka 2021, 1st ODI: Pitch report

Dasun Shanaka is their 10th captain in four years and barring a classy batsman like Dhananjaya de Silva and a steady pacer in Dishmantha Chameera, this team lacks the quality to challenge the might of the Indian team led by Shikhar Dhawan.

Expect Prithvi Shaw, Vijay Hazare Trophy’s top scorer to open alongside Dhawan, while seniors Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are expected to find automatic slots in the playing XI.

However, there are multiple contenders for other slots.

Will it be Devdutt Padikkal or Ruturaj Gaikwad for No 3 slot? Will Suryakumar Yadav’s 360 degree hitting ability be used or Manish Pandey get a final chance to show some consistency?

Will Krishnappa Gowtham’s off-spin and big hits be preferred over Krunal Pandya’s left-arm darts along with cheeky batting skills? How is Rahul Chahar placed against Yuzvendra Chahal, who hasn’t been in the best of forms of late?

And who will don the big gloves? Is it Rahul Dravid’s protege Sanju Samson or the mercurial Mumbai Indians man Ishan Kishan, who can really pack a punch?

These are questions that need to be answered by the team management during the next 11 days in Colombo.

The match will be played at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo and the scheduled time for the start of the first ODI is 3 PM IST.

However, rain could play spoilsport during the match as thunderstorms are predicted around 5.30 PM local time in the area and could continue for two hours. The temperature in Colombo should hover between 29 to 26 degrees celsius. Relative humidity of 75 percent is predicted.

With PTI inputs