The Indian team will face off against Sri Lanka in the ongoing Super 4s stage of the Asia Cup 2022 on September 6, 2022, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. India lost to Pakistan in their first match of this stage, while Sri Lanka is coming off a win against Afghanistan.
India had to make forced changes in their XI against Pakistan after Ravindra Jadeja was ruled out due to injury and somewhere it played a role in their defeat at the hands of their archrivals. This means changes are expected to be made in the XI for the Sri Lanka encounter.
Keeping this in mind, here is the COC predicted Team India playing XI for the Sri Lanka match.
Most of the batting is expected to remain the same with Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul opening the innings as they had given a flying start against Pakistan. Virat Kohli has seemingly regained his old batting form and is the highest run-getter for India in this tournament thus far.
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Suryakumar Yadav wasn’t able to do much against Pakistan in the tournament but has looked in good touch otherwise. Rishabh Pant was criticized for how he got out to a careless shot and now that he is being preferred over Dinesh Karthik in the XI, needs to make his wicket amount to something.
Hardik Pandya had an off day against Pakistan, getting out for a duck, but he has proved his worth with the ball and the bat multiple times since his return to international cricket.
The changes that are expected to be made will be done in the finisher’s department as Akshar Patel should come in for Deepak Hooda, given his batting form and that he can contain the runs in middle overs.
Also, Yuzvendra Chahal might lose his spot in the XI, given that has picked only one wicket in the 3 matches he has played at an economy of 7.75. He has become a bit predictable for batters, bowling wide outside off and with fewer speed variations.
With Ravi Bishnoi bowling excellently well, that too in powerplay overs against Pakistan, he might get the nod before Chahal.
With Sri Lanka having a host of left-handers in the playing XI, expect India to bring in R Ashwin to counter those big hitters. Pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh will have a big chance to redeem themselves and help India win the match and stay alive in the tournament.
COC Predicted Team India playing XI:
Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Akshar Patel, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
