India and Sri Lanka lock horns in the ODI series beginning in Guwahati on Tuesday. India won the T20 leg of the tour 2-1 owing to Suryakumar Yadav's brilliantly crafted century in the third and final match. With the series all set to mark the start of a crucial year as the ODI World Cup will be held in India in October-November, the hosts' have been hit hard by a late pull-out of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah as a precautionary measure, thus extending his delay into playing competitive cricket since suffering a reoccurrence of back injury in September 2022, which also saw him miss Men's T20 World Cup in Australia.
The return of senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli will make India strong favourites against the island nation
Head to head ODI's
India have supremely dominated the head-to-head statistics against their southern neighbours. The two have faced each other 162 times, with India winning 93 and Sri Lanka 57 matches. India's record at home against island nation is a landslide with the men in blue winning three times more matches 36-12.
Their last meeting in the format saw India beat SL 2-1 in an away series in 2021.On Indian soil, the two Asian nations last met way back in 2017.The Men in Blue clinched that series by 2-1 as well.
Players to watch out for
Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka had a stellar 2022, averaging close to 50 in the 11 ODI's he played scoring 491 runs. For India Shreyas Iyer had his best year scoring 724 runs in 17 ODI's @55.69.
It will be interesting to see how india selects the opening pair with the return of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill deputised in the absence of the senior players in the ODI series against Bangaladesh. Ishan Kishan smashed the fastest ODI double-ton (126 balls) in his last assignment in the format.
Mohammed Siraj was the pick of the Indian bowlers last year with 24 scalps in 15 ODI's.
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, K.L Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wicketkeeper), Avishka Fernando, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (captain), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka, Lahiru Kumara, Ashen Bandara, Nuwanidu Fernando, Pramod Madushan, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Jeffrey Vandersay, Sadeera Samarawickrama
