Mumbai: With the series already in their pocket, India will look to give some of the bench players a chance but there will be no let-up in the intensity as they eye a complete whitewash against Sri Lanka in the T20 format when they play the last game here, Sunday.
For the islanders, it has been a forgetful year, and the two recent defeats against India have just added to their misery. They had lost the first game at Cuttack by 93 runs and the second at Indore by 88 runs in Indore.
The constant one-sided results may not be an ideal preparation for India for the upcoming tour of South Africa, but the positive thing is that in absence of seniors including inspirational captain Virat Kohli, the youngsters have taken responsibility and delivered in the T20s and ODIs.
Stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma is in peak form and he would love to continue his good run at his home ground. Be it KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey or the experienced campaigner Mahendra Singh Dhoni – all have chipped in when needed and coach Ravi Shastri would expect them again to fire big time Sunday.
India had promoted Dhoni up the order Friday and the former captain justified the team’s decision by scoring at a brisk pace. The same can be expected in Mumbai if the openers give a flying start.
This Indian batting line-up can destroy any bowling attack and Sri Lanka’s toothless bowlers just provide them more opportunity to be devastating and ruthless.
With the likes of wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and fastman Jasprit Bumrah having already cemented their place in the side, the selectors would be seeing how Saurashtra pacer Jaydev Unadkat performs, as he can be an important cog in the scheme of things after veteran pacer Ashish Nehra called it a day.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka have been dealt a severe blow with Angelo Mathews being ruled out of the match due to a hamstring injury. In his absence, senior pros like Upul Tharanga and Kusal Perera will have to take responsibility and deliver.
Perera who played a knock of 77 in 37 balls had been the first to admit that the Sri Lankans were finding it hard to pick up Kuldeep and Chahal. ‘Wrist spinners are hard to pick with their variations and that is exactly what is happening to us,” Perera had said at Indore. “Unless we find a way to tackle them, we will not be able to give a fight to India,” he added.
True indeed, as both Kuldeep and Chahal have completely dominated the middle overs and put a break on the opposition batting picking up wickets at regular intervals. Chahal has so far picked up eight wickets and Kuldeep five making life absolutely difficult for the Sri Lankan batters.
Press Trust of India
