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SL vs IND | Shardul Thakur Out, Axar Patel In As India Decide To Bat First 

image-lmg3okglVirat Kohli scored a century against Pakistan (AP Photos)

It's time for another cracking Super Fours game of Asia Cup 2023 as India get ready to take on Sri Lanka in a crucial encounter. India demolished Pakistan in the last game and have started off positively against the home team, Sri Lanka as well as they have elected to bat first after winning the toss. India have made one big change with Shardul Thakur out and Axar Patel coming into the XI. According to Rohit Sharma, the pitch looks quite dry and so they have decided to include an extra spinner.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are going with the same team that played the last game against Bangladesh and this is a great opportunity for the Lankans to take a big step towards the final.


Here are the playing XIs of both the sides -

Sri Lanka Playing XI: Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dasun Shanaka (c), Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Kasun Rajitha


India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Lokesh Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah

This is what two captains said - 

Dasun Shanaka (Sri Lanka Captain): "Yeah, definitely, would have batted first as well. See it is a very good wicket and runs on the board is always handy. Yes, we have a lot of youngsters in the team and with a few seniors out of the side, they have stepped up and put on a good performance. Young Wellalage, Sadeera Samarawickrama and all have contributed brilliantly for me and for my team, Sri Lanka. We are going with a same team. No changes for us."


Rohit Sharma (India Captain): "We will bat first. Yes, different challenges thrown at you as sportsman and whatever challenges are thrown at you you should do well. The boys have pulled up well and they went into pool and now they are refreshed to go. We had a break before and now we are playing back to back. Yesterday was great. We did all areas right yesterday and this is a new day and hope to do well as well. Every day is a challenge for us. The pitch looks a little dry and so we have decided to make one change today based on conditions. Axar Patel comes in place of Shardul Thakur. That's the change based on conditions. We are looking forward to a great battle ahead."   

The team that wins this game will have one foot in the final of this Asia Cup 2023 and it will be interesting to see how both teams go about their business in this big game. The pitch looks dry and Sri Lanka have quality spinners in their attack and the battle between in-form Indian batters and Sri Lankan spinners will be fascinating to watch. Also Pathirana will play for the first time against India and his role will be crucial for Sri Lanka as they look to restrict India to as low a total as possible.

India are surely the favourites going into this game but Sri Lanka are no pushovers and if they take early wickets, India can be put under pressure.