India vs Sri Lanka 1st T20I: Prediction and Betting Tips

Key Stats

• India haven’t played a T20I match at the Lucknow ground since they lost to West Indies there in June 2018
• It’s been nine T20I wins in a row for India
• Sri Lanka has lost seven of their last nine T20I matches and eight of their last nine series played

India top of the world

Back on top of the ICC World T20I Rankings and fresh from a 3-0 clean sweep over West Indies, India is in confident mood. The Men in Blue are nine wins on the bounce and have won 12 series of their last 15 played (W12, D1, L2). Unsurprisingly, Rohit Sharma’s team are favourites to extend that run of success.

The hosts have rested key players for the white ball leg of Sri Lanka’s tour. Virat Kohli, Shardul Thakur and Rishabh Pant take a break. Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Chahar were injured against West Indies and miss out.

India fans should not despair as resting some big guns sees three more returning. Ravindra Jadeja and Sanju Samson come back after injury and Jasprit Bumrah returns after being rested for the matches against West Indies.

Rohit taking charge

Rohit Sharma was announced as Test captain to add to his existing white ball duties. The right-hander turns 35 during the u0pcoming IPL and appears to be relishing the opportunity to take over from Kohli.

India have three batters in the ICC top 20 while Sri Lanka have just one. But with KL Rahul (6th) out with injury and Kohli (10th) rested, Rohit at 11th leads his side in more ways than one. Suryakumar Yadav, ranked 21st, is also rested.

In 13 innings against Sri Lanka, Rohit has notched one hundred at 118 and has a strike-rate of 143.78. As an opener, he remains the man to back to top score.

The series also provides an opportunity for Venkatesh Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shreyas Iyer to stake a long-term claim.

With the T20 World Cup coming up in the autumn, there is plenty of motivation to make the squad.

?️ ?️: “Huge honour and a great feeling to lead #TeamIndia.”

Captain @ImRo45 on the emotions of captaining the team in all three formats of the game. ? ?#INDvSL | @Paytm pic.twitter.com/zo7kRwoL4h

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 23, 2022

Jasprit is back

Jasprit Bumrah is arguably the best white ball fast bowler in the world. There are a few in the framem but his current ICC T20I ranking of 30th exposes some of the flaws in the system. Back from a rest, Bumrah will be keen to get back to his wicket-taking ways.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Siraj will join Bumrah in the pace bowling attack with Venkatesh Iyer chipping in.

Ravi Bishnoi made his leg-spinning debut against West Indies and shone. He’s well worth a look, at a bigger price to Bumrah, to be the leading India wicket-taker. Bishnoi, on current form, is a better bet than the more experienced Yuzvendra Chahal.

Sri Lanka were thumped by Australia

Sri Lanka lost 4-1 away in Australia, winning the final match as scant consolation. In all honesty, it was a scoreline that if anything, flattered The Lions. In their last four trips to India, Sri Lanka have taken one series draw and three defeats.

On home soil they have won the last two T20I series played against India. That may give the tourists some hope but even against depleted opposition it’s tough to see them avoiding a whitewash.

Hasaranga’s Covid news

One of the big buys at the recent IPL Mega Auction was Wanindu Hasaranga. The hard-hitting legspinner is the fourth ranked T20I bowler in the world. A whopping winning bid from Royal Challengers Bangalore of 10.75 crore ($1.44 million) will see him in their team.

On the eve of the recent Australia series, he tested positive for Covid-19 and is yet to recover. He tested positive for a second time this week. After remaining in Australia, he is almost certain to miss the entire series in India.

Arjuna de Silva, the head of SLC’s medical department, said: “Wanindu has finished his seven-day isolation. It’s not that he has got a new infection, it’s just that he has not cleared the old infection according to their (Australia’s) level. He’ll miss the first match for sure. Our job is to get him to India. Of course, whether he plays or not is a different matter. That depends on his fitness and other factors.”

Hasaranga’s absence is another huge blow for his country. Batter Avishka Fernando (knee injury) and fast bowler Nuwan Thusara (side) are already out.

Bowler Binura Fernando has recovered from Covid-19 infection.

Nissanka the batter bet

Pathum Nissanka is the top ranked Sri Lanka T20I batter (15th) and comes off a series against Australia where he scored 36, 73, 16, 46 and 13 and top scored three times. He’ll be the favourite to top score again. Favourites are worth backing when there’s good reason.

Bharat Ratna Shri Bihari Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow

The average first innings score at the Lucknow venue is 151. All four T20I matches played at the Lucknow ground have been won by the team batting first. In contrast, Sri Lanka’s last six T20I wins have come when they have batted second.

Matches two and three of the series are to be played at the picturesque Dharamsala ground.

India squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj, Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chah0al, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan.

Sri Lanka squad: Dasun Shanaka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kamil Mishara, Janith Liyanage, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Ashian Daniel.