India look to bounce back in the Super 4s with clash against Sri Lanka

(Cricket news) India lost their opening Super 4s clash against Pakistan by 5 wickets. Now their game against Sri Lanka is in a way a must win for the Men in Blue. The loss against Pakistan will be tough to deal with but India can't afford to step off the gap. Sri Lanka have already defeated Afghanistan in the Super 4s and are in good form. India are missing a few players through injury especially some players who are irreplaceable which is an issue that needs to be solved. Batting wise India have been good but their bowling is something that needs to be looked at. Sri Lanka don't have a good record against India in recent T20Is but this would be a perfect game to turn things around. 

India's possible playing XI:

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh.

Bench:

Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Ravichandran Ashwin, Avesh Khan

In the last match India played Deepak Hooda for his batting prowess instead of Axar Patel but paid the price as they didn't have as their bowling tanked. Hooda can bowl a few overs but he isn't as effective as Axar. This time around India could look to play a pure all-rounder so that they can have 6 proper bowling options. Axar's batting isn't that inferior to Hooda and on top of that he is a left hander which is a bonus. Pant did fail in the last match but swapping him with Karthik again would not be a good move from Rohit Sharma as it will show indecisiveness. There is no clarity on Avesh Khan's availability after he missed the last game due to illness. Even if he is fit, it will be difficult to take out Bishnoi after his performance against Pakistan.

Sri Lanka possible playing XI:

Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Danushka Gunathilaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka

Bench:

Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Jeffrey Vandersay, Ashen Bandara, Praveen Jayawickrama, Nuwanidu Fernando, Pramod Madushan, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwan Thushara

Sri Lanka have a very good side that has played well in this tournament so far despite the injury to Dushmanta Chameera. They have no reason to change their team who has won the last game. The opening combination of Nissanka and Mendis will be very crucial. Hasaranga is undoubtedly the most important player in this Sri Lanka side due to his all-round brilliance. Shanaka's captaincy will be put to test against India as his bowling changes and field placements will have to be near perfect.

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