In the Sri Lanka tour of India 2023, the first T20I will take place on Tuesday, January 3 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai at 7 PM IST.
In the Men in Blue’s first bilateral series of the year, the team’s senior players have been given rest. The regular captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been rested from the T20I series and will join the team in the ODI format. Hardik Pandya, who has been named the Vice Captain of the ODI side, will captain the team in the shortest-format series. A set of talented youngsters have been added to the team and the upcoming bilateral series will be a perfect opportunity for them to perform well and cement a spot in the squad.
Sri Lanka doesn’t have a good track record in India, especially in the shortest format. The Lankans will still walk into the first fixture full of confidence as they beat India last year in the Asia Cup 2022 in the same format. Dasun Shanaka and his men will try to punch above their weight to acquire an away maiden T20I series victory against the Indian team whose veteran contenders have been rested.
Head-to-head:
India have an upper hand in the head-to-head competition between the two teams in the shortest format. The two teams played 26 games against each other out of which India won 17 fixtures and lost eight matches.
Where-to-watch:
TV: Star Sports
OTT: Disney+ Hotstar