IND vs SL 2017, 1st ODI: Visitors Bowl First; Shreyas Iyer Debuts

Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bowl first at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala.

For the hosts, who will be led by Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer is making his debut. The visitors will also be led by a new captain, Thisara Perera.

Here is what the captains said:

Thisara Perera:

“We want to bowl first. It looks like a good batting track. We want to chase. We want to do well. Some players are coming off an injury.”

Rohit Sharma:

“Good pitch. It is a good toss to lose. There would be initial assistance for the new ball bowlers. I am really honoured to be captain of Team India. It is a great responsibility. It is a great challenge. I have a great set of players with me. We would want to do something special today.”

Preview:

In the absence of their rested captain Virat Kohli, the Men in Blue will be looking to prove their mettle against a side which is not expected to cause too many troubles. Moreover, the hosts have the No. 1 ranking in sight and need to sweep the series to rise to the top of the chart.

On the other hand, the beleaguered visitors would be desperately hoping that their fortunes change under new skipper Thisara Perera. Sri Lanka has suffered three 5-0 whitewashes in 2017 with one of them coming against India at home and have managed to win just four of the 25 ODIs they have played this year. The Islanders are on a 12-match losing streak and will need to play out of their skin to stun the high-flying hosts.

Here is the playing eleven of both the teams:

India:

 Shikhar Dhawan(c), Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal

Sri Lanka:

Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Asela Gunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella(w), Thisara Perera(c), Sachith Pathirana, Suranga Lakmal, Akila Dananjaya, Nuwan Pradeep