After the first T20I between India and Sri Lanka was rained out in Assam, while the hosts defeated the visitors by seven wickets in the second match in Indore. It was a clinical performance by the Indian team as Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli starred in their respective roles.
The Lankan team tried their best but an injury to Isuru Udana left captain Lasith Malinga with no option but to use fringe bowlers and that didn’t help his cause as he was defending a subpar total. On the other hand, the Indian team will look to win this match in a similar manner and pocket the series as well. Therefore, Team COC presents to you the Predicted Playing XI for Team India for the Pune T20I.
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Shikhar Dhawan looked a bit rusty on his return to international cricket and he can be spared a chance. But with KL Rahul hitting a brilliant and quickfire 40 odd runs, the pressure is on him to perform well, or lose his place in the team to the Karnataka opener, who has been amazing so far.
Virat Kohli showed why he has the most runs in the format as he finished the match in style and quickly. Shreyas Iyer was sent at no.3 ahead of Kohli and he did a good job of scoring runs quickly. But he couldn’t finish the job and that is something he needs to work upon. Apart from this, there are not many changes expected in the batting order.
Meanwhile, Shivam Dube, Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar did their jobs nicely, though Sundar went for some runs, he did pick up a wicket. However, the surprise package proved to be Shardul Thakur and Navdeep Saini, who picked five wickets in between them. Saini bowled amazingly fast and even clocked at 150 kph. Shardul showed great control with the ball and earned three wickets.
Kuldeep Yadav looked in good control and had confidence in his bowling, while Jasprit Bumrah had a successful return, picking up a wicket, but it will take some matches for him to get back to his best form.
COC Predicted Team India Playing XI:
Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (WK), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini
