In the Sri Lanka tour of India, the first T20I of the three-match series will be played at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Thursday, February 24 at 7 PM IST.
India will be heading into this fixture on the back of a scintillating 3-0 victory against the West Indies in the shortest format. The newly appointed Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma is yet to lose a match after being appointed as the full-time captain. The star Indian opener will look forward to continuing his winning streak and generating momentum for the highly-anticipated T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli have been rested for the T20I series, while the in-form Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Chahar have been excluded due to injuries. The Men in Blue have acquired the number one spot on the Men’s T20I Team Rankings after clinching the third T20I against the Windies.
On the other end, Sri Lanka will be facing the Indians on their turf after a devastating 1-4 defeat against Australia. The tourists have also been affected by the injuries as they will be missing out on the services of Avishka Fernando and Bhanuka Rajapaksa due to injuries. A series victory against the Indians in India will be historic for the Lankas and that will help the team to create some momentum ahead of the marquee international T20 event. Sri Lanka have occupied the ninth spot on the Men’s T20I Team Rankings, which is quite opposite to India.Â
Head-to-head:
In the head-to-head competition between the two teams, the hosts have the upper hand. Both teams have faced off on 22 occasions, India won 14 games while the visitors emerged victorious on seven instances. In the last outing between the two teams that took place last year, the Indian team led by Shikhar Dhawan that was hit by COVID-19 cases lost the T20I series 2-1.
TV and LIVE streaming details:
OTT- Disney+ Hotstar