India Vs Sri Lanka 2019/20: First T20I – Toss Report
Jan 5, 2020 at 6:55 PM
India and Sri Lanka are ready to kick-off the new year (2020) with this opening game of the three-match T20I series at Barsapara Cricket Stadium (Guwahati). The hosts India won the toss and decided to field first.
While it is the year of seventh men’s ICC T20 World Cup (2020), all the teams are now seriously preparing for this tournament, which will begin on 18th October. Targeting this tournament, India and Sri Lanka are kicking off this new year.
Coming up to the toss of this match, the Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bowl first.
Kohli said after winning the toss, “We’re gonna bowl first. We haven’t played here in a while. The last time we played here, we chased well. The game we played prior to that against Australia, they chased well too. The track does play differently in the second half as compared to the first part. It’s a good thing actually, there isn’t too much of a difference in conditions, except that the track settles down better later on with the wet ball. Last year was outstanding for us in two formats, T20s not so much. Good thing though is that we have a World Cup coming up and we’ll be taking things more seriously.”
Talking about the playing XI, Kohli added, “Pandey, Samson, Chahal and Jadeja aren’t playing. Kuldeep and Washington because of their left-handers and we have three seamers.”
Lasith Malinga’s Sri Lanka ready to face against the hosts India
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan captain Lasith Malinga is also ready to face this tough fight. The visiting captain his happy to bat first in this match.
Malinga said after losing the toss, “Happy to bat first. Don’t think the track will change too much. We have prepared well and will want to put it into performances. Need to put runs on the board and then take it from there. We have brought 16 players as we need to finetune our combination for the World Cup. Three seamers and two spinners for us. Need five genuine bowlers to put pressure on India.”
Captain @imVkohli has won the toss and elects to bowl first in the 1st @Paytm T20I against Sri Lanka.#INDvSL pic.twitter.com/V2a6ujWHrK
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 5, 2020
Here are the playing XIs of both the teams:
Indian playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur
Sri Lankan playing XI:Danushka Gunathilaka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Perera(w), Oshada Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka, Isuru Udana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lahiru Kumara, Lasith Malinga(c)