IND vs SL 2017, 3rd ODI: India to Bowl First in Vizag; Kuldeep Replaces Washington Sundar

India won the toss and decided to field first in the third and final One-Day International at Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam.

Both the teams have made one change to their playing eleven that played in Mohali. Kuldeep Yadav has returned to the fore in place of ‘sick’ Washington Sundar while Sri Lanka has included Sadeera Samarawickrama in place of Lahiru Thirimanne.

Here is what the captains said:

Rohit Sharma: 

“We are gonna bowl first here. Good conditions, will be hot initially but as the day goes on, climate gets better. Keeping the dew factor in mind, we want to chase. It has finally. Was a great day for me and Team India as well. The win was important to stay in the competition. So in those circumstances, I would rate the knock highly. Was a good win, everyone chipped in nicely. We hope to do the same here in Vizag as well. I keep saying that this team has a lot of character and has often taken responsibility in tough situations. We were put under pressure in the first game and responded well in the second. The message was to go out there and have fun. Unfortunately, Washington is sick, and Kuldeep Yadav is back in.”

Thisara Perera:

“Really good wicket to bat on. We would like to put runs on board and put them under pressure. Yes, dew could come in later, but it’s a good batting track. We have two spinners, let’s see how things go on. We didn’t bowl well at all last game, such things happen. Hopefully, we can do things right today and do something special. One change, Lahiru Thirimanne is out, and he is replaced by Sadeera Samarawickrama.”

Preview:

While India will surely enter the series-decider as firm favourites, they cannot afford to take Sri Lanka lightly. Rohit Sharma & Co. will be oozing with confidence after they bounced back from the humbling defeat in Dharamshala in style in the second ODI.

But at the same time, the way the Islanders have caused troubles for the hosts on few occasions on this tour, the Men in Blue should be cautious going into the all-important game.

On the other hand, the visitors will be desperate to move on from the heavy thrashing in the last game and register a historic series win in India. Not much went their way in Mohali but a win in the third ODI will not help them bounce back from the defeat, but would also do their depleted confidence a world of good.

Here is the playing eleven of both the teams:

India:

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

Sri Lanka:

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