Sunil Gavaskar Not Foreseeing a Whitewash in the ODIs for India

Former India skipper and legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar has reckoned that India will go onto win the ODI series against Sri Lanka by a margin of 4-1. Considering the current form of both the sides, there are chances of India whitewashing the hosts.

Recently, India defeated Sri Lanka in the Test series by a margin of 3-0. Before the start of the series, Sri Lanka suffered a big upset when they lost the ODI series to Zimbabwe by a margin of 3-2, which resulted in the skipper Angelo Mathews deciding to step down as the captain of the team,

“My prediction is it will be 4-1 in favour of India. White ball will be easier for the Sri Lankan batsmen,” Sunil Gavaskar told NDTV.

When last time India toured Sri Lanka for an ODI series in the year 2012, the MS Dhoni-led side won the series by a margin of 4-1, with the only defeat coming in the second ODI of the series, which was a low-scoring affair.

However, when last time Sri Lanka toured India, the Virat Kohli-led side won the series by a margin of 5-0. The probability of Kohli, now a full-time captain, imitating his success is quite high, also keeping his success in Test series as well.

Of course, the form of Sri Lanka in Test series, and personally of skipper Upul Tharanga, will have an impact on the home side because the team was let down by the players in all the departments of the game. Injuries too played its part, and in the limited-overs series too, the team will miss out on the services of Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal.

There are no such concerns in the Indian team. In fact, two of the players viz. KL Rahul and Manish Pandey have made a comeback from respective injuries.

The limited-overs series between India and Sri Lanka kicks off from August 20 with the first game to scheduled to be played at Dambulla. A single T20I will mark an end to the series.