Last Updated on 7 years by Charbel Coorey
Looking forward to the end of this series? Just want the South Africa v India showdown to start? Think this is pointless?
You may be right… But, when you consider India have not lost a bilateral series in any format in 2017 (excluding one-off T20I loss to West Indies), it will be interesting to see how India’s youngsters go about ensuring this record stays alive.
India will be without Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, three players who have formed part of the core of the Indian limited overs line up. In a way, that actually might increase interest in this series (it certainly has for me) because Sri Lanka would have barely stood a chance against a full-strength India line up. In India’s squad, Basil Thampi, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar and Mohammad Siraj have played a total of two internationals between them. Shreyas Iyer made his debut only last month, and despite Jaydev Unadkat making his debut in December 2010, he’s played just nine games across formats.
This surely represents an opportunity for Sri Lanka to end a disappointing 2017 on a high. In contrast to India, Sri Lanka will get their experienced players back after missing the series against Pakistan recently, and will look to make things right after a missed opportunity after going 1-0 up in the ODI series.
Will they revel in the chance to win a series in India, or will they be weighed down by the possibility of losing to an inexperienced India team?
Key to an India win
Key to a Sri Lanka win
Predicted teams:
- India have a 6-4 record in T20Is in 2017. In recent series, both Australia and New Zealand managed to win games.
- Sri Lanka have lost their last five T20Is
- In 24 T20Is, Hardik Pandya averages only 10.76 with the bat, and has an economy of 8.19 with the ball. This has to be the time he steps up, and I have a feeling he’ll have a good series.
- Sri Lanka captain Thisara Perera has the third worst economy rate in T20Is for bowlers who have bowled at least 20 innings. His economy rate of 8.95 is behind only Andre Russell (9.24) and Elton Chigumbura (9.28).
- India have won their four T20Is against Sri Lanka.
