Colombo, July 18: Team India, under the leadership of new captain Shikhar Dhawan, is set to begin its limited-overs campaign as they take on Sri Lanka on Sunday (July 18) at the R Premadasa Stadium. The second-string Indian side comprises several young talented players and must be raring to make their international debut and present a case for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021.
Despite the absence of big players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Jasprit Bumrah, Team India is well ahead of Sri Lanka. The visitors' squad comprises Dhawan, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Deepak Chahar and their good form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 will bode them well.
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The young guns who have proved themselves time and again, and coach Rahul Dravid has made it clear that the visitors will focus on winning the Sri Lanka series and not everybody could get to play all matches. It will be interesting to see who gets a chance in the playing eleven.
The absence of big names has dented Sri Lanka's chances to give India a tough fight in the white-ball series. Former Sri Lanka all-rounder Farveez Maharoof believes the tourists will start as favourites in the upcoming ODI series but expects the hosts to "pull their socks up and put up a fight" following a disappointing England tour.
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Apart from the two teams, one thing that will be on everyone's radar is the weather forecast for the opening one-dayer. As per the weatherman, rain might play a spoilsport.
Thunderstorms and rain are predicted around 5.30 PM local time in the area and might continue for a couple of hours. The temperature, however, in Colombo should hover between 29 to 26 degrees Celsius and relative humidity of 75 percent is predicted.