India vs Sri Lanka: India must make several adjustments before the decider
A new-look India goes into the third and final T20I of the three-match series against Sri Lanka needing a win to secure the series win when the two sides face off at Rajkot on Saturday (January 7).
India must make adjustmentsThe Hardik Pandya-led side won the first game at Mumbai by a close margin but were put to the sword by the defending Asia Cup champions in the second game at Pune.
This means the side, full of younger players and notable veterans like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul missing, will need to bring their A-game in the final T20I.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/akshar2026?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@akshar2026</a> joins an elite list. 🔥<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/INDvSL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#INDvSL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AxarPatel?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AxarPatel</a> <a href="https://t.co/PPNz59CBNh">pic.twitter.com/PPNz59CBNh</a></p>— 100MB (@100MasterBlastr) <a href="https://twitter.com/100MasterBlastr/status/1611264504817647616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The good news for India is that they remain a force in bilateral cricket despite their recent status as underachievers in significant tournaments.
What’s more, the weight of history is behind them – Sri Lanka have generally been a distant second-best to India in T20I cricket.
Their win against India in the second T20I was their first win in India in the shortest format of the game since back in 2016 – and incidentally, that too came at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
But generally speaking, India has dominated Sri Lanka in T20I cricket, which will give this new-look Indian side some confidence going into the decider.
Yet Sri Lanka has reasons to be confident in their own right – unlike India, they have a settled core group of players who have been playing together for quite a while.
Indeed, many players playing in India were part of the team that won the Asia Cup in 2022. But India is building a newer side and will require some patience.
It will also be interesting to see if India changes the playing XI in this game. One can never say never with the Indian team, but conventional wisdom suggests this might be unlikely.
In the batting department, it seems unlikely that either Ruturaj Gaikwad or Jitesh Sharma will get a run in the final game.
Neither Shubman Gill nor Ishan Kishan have set the stage on fire so far, but they deserve more than the limited chances they have gotten.
All-rounder Axar Patel’s heroics mean that Washington Sundar will have to be a little more patient for his chance.
As for the bowlers, Harshal Patel made way for Arshdeep Singh, and the latter will most likely retain his place due to him only making a comeback from illness in the last game – despite his forgettable night, which saw him bowl five no-balls.
As for Mukesh Kumar, the Bengal pacer, he too will have to wait to break into what looks like a settled bowling unit – at least for this series.
Whatever else can be said about the Indian team and their results in this series, the fact is that younger players deserve longer ropes in these spots.
Therefore, changes will be unlikely – regardless of the result of the series. After all, no one said that building a squad would be easy, but it needs to be done.
Predicted India XI: Ishan Kishan (WK), Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya (C), Axar Patel, Shivam Mavi, Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh.