Merely 15 hours after handing Pakistan a massive 228-run morale crushing defeat and grabbing the crucial two points on offer, India will return to the R Premadasa Stadium to take on Sri Lanka in their second Super Four match with an eye on booking their place in the final of the ongoing Asia Cup.
Having said that, the pressure of playing 50-over matches on consecutive days might have an impact on the players’ fatigue, something which the team management won’t want in the build-up to the ICC World Cup in India starting October 5.
And in that case, some of the key players, especially Virat Kohli and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah could be rested for the match against the Sri Lankans. Kohli, who slammed a belligerent 122 not out against Pakistan, scored 68 of those by running between the wickets before fielding for the entire 32 overs that the Pakistan batting lasted.
In fact at the end of the contest, the former India skipper, who scaled Mt 13,000 in ODI cricket during the marathon knock, had requested for his player of the match interview to be short as he wanted to be afresh for the next game, “I was pushing for those runs and happy for it, but I was thinking I need to play at 3 pm tomorrow.”
In case Kohli is rested for the contest against Sri Lanka, Shreyas Iyer, who was a late exclusion for the game against Pakistan due to a back spasm, could get a look-in. Another option, the team management could be eyeing at is to give some game time to Suryakumar Yadav, who also features in the World Cup squad.
On the bowling front, Bumrah, who bowled five overs for the first time since his comeback to international cricket last month, could also make way for the return of Mohammed Shami. The 29-year-old was taken off the field towards the end of the game as India inched towards a big win against Pakistan.
India’s likely playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer/Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav