In Dharamshala, India will look to pocket their second series win in the second T20 International against Sri Lanka here on Saturday.
India were forced to go back to drawing board after their early exit from the T20 World Cup last year but four months later, they look a transformed unit under their new skipper Rohit Sharma.
It is still early days but the Rohit Sharma-led side has already figured out the core group of players that will travel to Australia for the World Cup Down Under later this year.
Young opener Ishan Kishan got a massive dose of confidence in the series opener on Thursday after his struggles against the West Indies.
If it wasn’t for Ruturaj Gaekwad’s wrist injury, he could have opened with Kishan and Rohit would have dropped himself down the order like he did against the West Indies. The same could happen on Saturday if Gaekwad is able to regain full fitness.
Shreyas Iyer made merry at number three in the absence of the rested Virat Kohli and would be aiming to repeat that for the rest of the series.
When a full strength India take the field next, he might not find a place in the playing eleven and therefore, he needs to make the most of the opportunities that come his way.
As Rohit indicated after the opening game, a fit again Ravindra Jadeja will continue to bat higher up the order as the team wants to optimise his significantly improved batting skills.
“We want more from him that is why we asked him to bat higher. You will see that happening more and more in the games that he plays for India. I want him to bat up the order more.
“He is a very improved batter, so we will try and see if we can promote him going forward. We are very clear with what we want to achieve with him in white ball cricket,” said the skipper referring to the all-rounder.
It would take a special effort from Sri Lanka to end India’s 10-match winning streak in Dharamshala
With a misfiring top-order and absence of frontline spinners Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga, Sri Lanka struggled to compete in the first game.
The weather is expected to be much colder in the night compared to Lucknow. With only a travel day separating the two games, the players will have little time to adjust to the conditions.
Squads:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Hooda, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav.
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Charith Asalanka, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka (c), Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Praveen Jayawickrama, Jeffrey Vandersay, Lahiru Kumara, Danushka Gunathilaka, Ashian Daniel, Shiran Fernando, Binura Fernando.
