Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka won the toss and decided to bat first against India in Colombo on Friday (August 2), for the first ODI of their three-match series. (Match Blog | Streaming | More Cricket News)
Explaining why he chose to bat, Asalanka said: "It looks like a dry pitch and that's the reason."
He added: "We are going with 6-5 combination. Shiraz is making his debut today. We have to improve our mental skills, we did some bad things in the last game but that is the past and we are looking forward to this game. It (injuries) is a concern as a captain but I am looking forward to going with my second line of bowling."
His opposing number Rohit Sharma said: "Good pitch. We have played a lot of cricket here and know the conditions."
He added, "There has been a lot of changes; I am back, so is Virat, KL and Shreyas Iyer. Kuldeep also comes back in. Dube is also playing. We have a pretty decent balance.
"We had a great World Cup, we didn't cross the finishing line but there were a lot of positives. We have created an atmosphere where guys can come in and play with freedom. Not really (on whether he will bowl), I will focus on my batting. We have enough bowlers in the squad that can roll their arm over."
India had won the T20I series by a 3-0 margin, and are bolstered by the inclusion of senior pros Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the 50-over leg of the tour. This will be the first time Virat and Rohit will play under the mentorship of new head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj.
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis(w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka(c), Janith Liyanage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Akila Dananjaya, Asitha Fernando, Mohamed Shiraz.
