India vs Sri Lanka, 1st T20I Stats Preview: Players records and approaching milestones

India and Sri Lanka are all set to meet in the first of the three-match T20I series January 3 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The second and final matches will be played on January 5 and 7 in Pune and Rajkot respectively. Notably, Sri Lanka will also play a three-match ODI series after the completion of the T20Is.

Speaking about 2021, India enjoyed a fruitful year considering the bilaterals as they played nine series and remained undefeated. The Men in Blue won eight series and drew one against South Africa. In major events, the Asian giants failed to achieve glory as they could not reach the Asia Cup finals and suffered defeat in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup. 

On the other hand, the Lankan Lions lifted the Asia Cup (T20) trophy but couldn’t manage to reach the final four of the global competition held down under in October-November. Dasun Shanaka and his side will look to put up a better show this time around as they were blanked 3-0 last year in India. The home side is without several key players like Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, full-time skipper Rohit Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Hardik Pandya will don the captaincy hat as his side look to start the New Year with a bang.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers ahead of the 1^st T20I between India and Sri Lanka:

Head-to-Head: India and Sri Lanka have met each other in 26 T20 internationals so far and the head-to-head is completely dominated by the Men in Blue. They have won 17 and lost just eight encounters with one game ending in no result. In India, both the teams have clashed 14 times, with the home side winning 11 games and Sri Lanka two. 

92 – Suryakumar Yadav (1408) needs 92 runs to complete 1500 runs in T20Is.

1 – Kusal Mendis (49) is one game away from appearing in 50 matches in the T20I format.

4 – Yuzvendra Chahal (87) requires four scalps to surpass Bhuvneshwar Kumar (90) and become the leading wicket-taker for India in T20Is.

3 – Dasun Shanaka (97) requires three big hits to reach 100 maximums in international cricket.

4 – Washington Sundar (46) needs four scalps to reach 50 wickets across formats.

4 – Kusal Mendis (46) is four sixes away from reaching 50 maximums in the shortest international format.

5 – Yuzvendra Chahal (45) is five wickets away from completing 50 wickets in T20 internationals at home.

2 – Dasun Shanaka (48) needs two scalps to get to 50 wickets across formats.

1 – Maheesh Theekshana (49) needs one wicket to get to 50 scalps in international matches.