Changes in the India and Sri Lanka XI confuses broadcaster

After a rain delay, the Sri Lanka vs India 5th ODI finally got underway with both the skippers walking out for the toss. Virat Kohli called it tails this time and Upul Tharanga making a comeback after serving a two-match ban won the toss. He elected to bat first having witnessed what the Indian batters were capable of in the previous game.

This being a dead rubber the Indian team management opted to make a truck load of changes. While Shikhar Dhawan opted out of the match, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel were rested for the match and they made way for Ajinkya Rahane, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal.

After being asked to bowl first Indian captain Kohli said, “We would’ve batted first as well; looks like a good batting track. It has a bit of moisture but we are playing an extra bowler as well today. We need to use the two new balls well and pick up early wickets. The mindset stays the same, we need to play to win and have to ensure that complacency doesn’t creep in,”

“It helps us cope up with pressure situations as we have a young team with the experienced players helping them around. We have four changes – KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Shikhar Dhawan are out, Ajinkya Rahane, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Chahal and Jadhav are back in,” he added.

His Sri Lankan counterpart Tharanga said, “He started the CPL season with an unbeaten half century against St Lucia StarsWe are going to bat first. It is the same wicket that was used in the last game. It is an important game for us. We planned a few things before the series but we couldn’t quite do well. This is another opportunity to play to the best of our ability,”

“It is tough when the team doesn’t stay the same. The captains have changed all through and some we’ve had injuries as well; we haven’t been able to do well in the last four games. We have one change – Kusal Mendis goes out and I come in,” Tharanga said.

Indian XI displayed by the broadcaster

India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli (C), Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shardul Thakur

Sri Lanka XI displayed by the broadcaster

Sri Lanka Playing XI: Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Upul Tharanga (C), Dilshan Munaweera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Milinda Siriwardana, Wanidu Hasaranga, Akila Dananjaya, Malinda Pushpakumara, Vishwa Fernando, Lasith Malinga