After the clean sweep in the limited-overs against West Indies, and after a short breather, the Indian team is ready for its next challenge of facing Sri Lanka in a series of three T20Is, which will be followed by two Tests.

The first T20I will be played on February 24 in Lucknow, while the second and third T20Is will be played back-to-back on February 26 and 27 in Dharamsala. While India is coming off a 3-0 pounding of two-time T20 World Champions West Indies, Sri Lanka is coming off a 1-4 series drubbing at the hand of Australians.

Keeping this in mind, Team COC presents to you the Predicted Team India Playing XI for the first T20I against Sri Lanka.

India will be missing some major names in their squad for this T20I series as Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant have been rested by the BCCI to keep them fresh for the Test series that will follow. To add to the misery, Deepak Chahar and in-form batter Suryakumar Yadav sustained injuries that have ruled them out of the series.

This means, more or less, India will have to go with the combination that won them the third T20I against West Indies, meaning Rohit Sharma will need to bat at no.4 to lend some support to the middle order.

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Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad are expected to open the innings, with Kishan keeping wickets as well. Gaikwad failed to in his only chance against the West Indies and will expect to grab this opportunity with both hands.

Shreyas Iyer, Rohit Sharma, and a recalled Sanju Samson are expected to fortify the middle order of the XI in absence of Suryakumar Yadav. Venkatesh Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja will play the role of finishers and having Jadeja back in the mix also as a spinner is a huge plus for the Indian side.

Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be joined by vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah in the bowling department with Shardul Thakur being rested and Chahar missing out due to hamstring injury. Yuzvendra Chahal did well to keep his place in the squad and might be seen in the XI as well.

COC Predicted Team India Playing XI for the first T20I against Sri Lanka:

Ishan Kishan (WK), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Rohit Sharma (C), Sanju Samson, Venkatesh Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yuzvendra Chahal