India has never lost an ODI series to Sri Lanka in the past 27 years, but now the record seems in serious danger as a spirited Sri Lankan side will take on India in the 3rd ODI at the R Premadasa stadium on Wednesday (7th August). Sri Lanka registered a rare victory against India after 1108 days in the 2nd ODI, which stunned the entire cricketing fraternity.

Additionally, India has only lost 5 out of 22 ODI bilateral series against Sri Lanka. India’s middle-order much like Sri Lanka’s middle-order has led to their woes in the series. India has failed to chase down a target of less than 250 in two consecutive games on tricky wickets, in which the 1st game resulted in a tie, while the second went in favour of Sri Lanka.

‘Spin to win,’ has been the formula for Sri Lanka as they have managed to collapse the mighty Indian batting lineup twice in two games. In the first ODI, India was cruising at 80 for 1 in the 15th over, in chase of Sri Lanka’s 230 for 8 before falling to 132 for 5. The second ODI, on Sunday, followed an eerily familiar script as India fell from 116 for 1 to 133 for 5, before falling 32 runs short in a chase of Sri Lanka’s 240 for 9.

India has altered their middle order a bit in the past two games. Shivam Dube and Axar Patel were promoted up the order in the 2nd game, ahead of Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul. This, however, Abhishek Nayar, India’s assistant coach revealed, was done to keep the left-right combination going through the middle.

Nayar said, “We lost wickets in the middle phase, which means every middle-order batter batted where he was supposed to. It was not as if the middle order batted towards the end. When you look at numbers, sometimes in your head it can play games, if you look at it as No 4 or No 5 or No 6… but if you look at the situation of the game, because we lost wickets, everyone batted in the middle-order.”

“So I don’t really feel changes… It is perceived as a change but it’s more a left and right combination, keeping in mind the conditions, keeping in mind that they had an off-spinner and a leg spinner. 

India would be desperate for a win in the 3rd ODI and would want to rectify their mistakes, as they move on to a month’s break post this game. India are scheduled to play limited ODIs before the ICC Champions Trophy, early next year, which again multiplies the context of the 3rd ODI.

Sri Lanka on the other hand will be raring for glory and would want to beat the mighty Indians in a series after 27 long years. The series win will be huge for Sri Lanka cricket, given the team’s recent performances, and can well prove as a stepping stone for something big in the coming years.

Sri Lanka (Probable XI): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Kusal Mendis (wk), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka (capt), 6 Janith Liyanage, 7 Dunith Wellalage, 8 Kamindu Mendis, 9 Jeffrey Vandersay, 10 Akila Dananjaya, 11 Asitha Fernando

India (Probable XI): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Shivam Dube/Riyan Parag, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Arshdeep Singh