After annihilating the Lankans 3-0 in the Test series, the Men in Blue are gearing up for the limited-overs leg of their tour and certainly will start the series as overwhelming favourites. The first match of the series is scheduled for tomorrow which is going to be held at the Rangiri International Stadium in Dambulla. The Lankans will look to restore some of their lost pride after losing their previous ODI series to minnows Zimbabwe by a 2-3 margin.
Meanwhile, Team India captain Virat Kohli clarified the fact that despite Shikhar Dhawan’s stellar run in the limited overs format off late, KL Rahul will be part of the playing XI at least for the first few games but won’t be batting in the opening position. He will be allotted somewhere in the middle-order. During the pre-match press conference, Kohli also added that they will back someone like Manish Pandey but at the end of the day 3 four guys have to fight it out for the two spots in the middle order.
He praised Manish Pandey for grabbing the opportunities with both hands whenever given a chance and also hailed him for scoring a brilliant century in Australia. Kohli said that Rahul was in terrific form across all 3 formats of the game and deserves a chance in the limited overs team straight away. Rahul has always been backed by Kohli and it has shown in his performances and the way he has matured as a batsman over the past year or so.
“KL Rahul will bat in the middle-order but we won’t be predictable or have a set pattern anymore,” Kohli said during the pre match press conference.
Rahul was in good knick during the Test series against Sri Lanka but yet again failed to convert his start into big ones. He will definitely look to change this pattern in the limited overs format and smash a century or two if he gets a chance.
The Men in Blue, on the other hand, will be keen on inflicting yet another whitewash and after the lacklustre performance of Sri Lanka in the recent past, a 5-0 scoreline in favour of India at the end of the series cannot be ruled out.