India has been the superior side in the tour, winning the test series convincingly and carried that form over to one day international, hammering Sri Lanka in the first ODI of the five match series. On the other hand, Sri Lanka has been a shadow of their former self that was once unbeatable at home regardless of the opposition.
Sri Lanka’s performance has been so poor even their supporters stopped the team bus demanding answers for the horrific show.
While India has been cruising in the beautiful island, Shikhar Dhawan has been unstoppable, hitting two hundred in the Tests and a rapid ton in the first ODI while for skipper Virat Kohli, it was business as usual with an unbeaten 82.
The side looks balanced thus it is tough to foresee any changes to the Indian playing XI but it will be interesting to see if Kohli shuffles his batting order a bit to give KL Rahul and Jadhav some batting time.
Whether the hosts step up or not, this is vital game time for the likes of Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal, with the Men in Blue already stepping up their preparations for the next World Cup.
Teams:
India: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Ajinkya Rahane, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur.
Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga (c), Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Chamara Kapugedera, Milinda Siriwardana, Malinda Pushpakumara, Akila Dananjaya, Lakshan Sandakan, Thisara Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lasith Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera, Vishwa Fernando.
Match starts at: 2.30pm