A look at India's predicted playing XI for the first T20I against Sri Lanka

Team India (Source: Twitter)

The International schedule continues to move on as India will face Sri Lanka next in a three-match T20 series on home soil. The series will start on January 3. India will want to shrug off their recent ODI losses and start 2023 on a winning note. When it comes to Sri Lanka, they will aim to start 2023 on a high after their sombre 20-20 World Cup campaign in Australia.

India have a new and refurbished squad that does not have the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin. Hardik Pandya will lead the side and Suryakumar Yadav will be his deputy. Sri Lanka will come in with nothing to lose and will aim to throw a spanner in India’s works in the T20s.

The game will be held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The pitch in Mumbai contains red soil which will provide good bounce and also will be a free-scoring ground with batters who will use the bounce that will be conducive for stroke play. The short boundaries will make this game a high-scoring contest.

Predicted Playing XI

India (Predicted XI): Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya (Captain), Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Washington Sundar, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.

Sri Lanka (Predicted XI): Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Avishka Fernando, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Lahiru Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka

The games will be televised on Star Sports for TV coverage and when it comes to digital streaming, it will be shown on Disney +Hotstar. India has had the wood over Sri Lanka when it comes to T20s. In 26 T20Is played so far, India have won 17 of them as compared to 8 won by Sri Lanka. There was a game which yielded no result.

Both the Asian Teams are coming out of underperforming 20-20 World Cup campaigns. They will aim to do well in the shortest format and shrug away the pain that they suffered at the World event. India under Hardik will look to start afresh in T20Is and Sri Lanka will derive some inspiration from their Asia Cup win in the UAE in September 2022.