Ajay Jadeja analyses India's strategies ahead of 1st ODI against Sri Lanka

To kick-start their preparations for the ODI World Cup 2023, India and Sri Lanka will square off in the first of the three-match ODI series on January 10 (Tuesday) at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. The team will see the senior members returning as regular skipper Rohit Sharma will don the captain’s hat, with KL Rahul and former India skipper Virat Kohli too returning to the side.

Rahul, Rohit, and Kohli's return might give India a significant advantage over Sri Lanka in the ODI series. This also implies that the Indian selection committee will face a difficult decision while deciding on the final playing XI for Tuesday's series opener against Sri Lanka. Ahead of the opening ODI fixture, Ajay Jadeja, a former Indian cricketer, talked about India's plan of deploying seven batters in the starting XI.

“You never use all seven batsmen. No.7 and No.8 numbers you will find 20 average. How many times does India win when your No.7 comes into play. And every time it comes into play it only gives you hope for the next World Cup. When we are 5-7 down it's a different game. It's an aggressive play. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar, Shreyas Iyer and Hardik at 6. They all average over 45-50. So that's 300 runs on their good day. Like what happened in the last T20I game (in Rajkot). You had seven batsmen, how much did you use?,” Jadeja told Cricbuzz.

I think India still has one-way traffic: Jadeja

During a pre-match press conference, Rohit Sharma revealed that Shubman Gill will make it to the starting XI ahead of Ishan Kishan. India faced a blow when their pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who was added to the squad last week, was ruled out of the series. But amid everything, Ajay Jadeja believes that the Men in Blue will be the favourites to win the upcoming series and Sri Lanka's batting and bowling just cannot match up with the home team in the limited-overs format.

"If your Rohit Sharma can't score, Virat Kohli can't score, (and) Suryakumar can't score. You think that No.7 will come and score. I think India still has one-way traffic as the longer the game gets (better the advantage). Even in the 20-overs when it's a big score game, Sri Lanka is not competing against you. Their batting and their bowling also don't compete," Jadeja added.

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