🏏Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 - Match 3 : India vs Sri Lanka 🏏 - Page 4

Head to head: India have won 17 and lost only seven matches, with one no-result, in T20Is against Sri Lanka. The only time India faced Sri Lanka in an Asia Cup T20 was in Mirpur in 2016, a game which India won by five wickets.

What to expect: The first-innings totals have been north of 170 after the first three matches which were low-scoring affairs. But teams batting second have found more success, even in chases of hefty totals. The weather will be very warm with a high of 36 degree Celsius.

There were two occasions when Rohit Sharma wasn't his usual calm self during the Super 4 match against Pakistan. The first time was in an animated chat with Rishabh Pant after his dismissal attempting a reverse sweep and the next time was when Arshdeep Singh grassed a simple catch off Ravi Bishnoi to give Asif Ali a reprieve, one that proved rather costly. Rohit even pointed out during the post-match presentation that the wickets of Pant and Hardik Pandya in quick succession "were not needed".

India's positive batting approach set them up well but those wickets meant that Virat Kohli had to drop a couple of gears leading into the death overs. The defeat to Pakistan has left India now in a dicey situation where one more loss could lead to their exit. The real test now is - what will be their approach should they lose early wickets in a make-or-break game against Sri Lanka?

India have also been hard-pressed for options in the pace department, with Hardik Pandya having to bowl his full quota against Pakistan. It wasn't a great game for the all-rounder, who got out for a duck and then leaked 44 runs for a solitary wicket. Rahul Dravid and Co. will have a lot of thinking to do about the combination ahead of an important game. Sri Lanka will eye India's weakness in the pace department as an area to target.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka are taking a lot of confidence with them heading into this clash. With a superior net run-rate, they currently sit atop the Super 4 table and will be looking to ride the momentum wave. There wasn't a single half-century from the Sri Lankans against Afghanistan in the weekend game but there were plenty of valuable contributions with the bat that helped them go past the opposition's 175, which will hold them in good stead.

Davis: "Here is a long shot, India plays one of Rahul or Pant ( either can keep) and somehow squeeze in Ashwin considering the bounce of pitch and keeping in mind his allround ability. Also, Chahal can be rested to bring in Axar, while Bishnoi continues. This should technically lengthen the batting and give the bowling a bit of variety."

Manu Ajmani: "The last match was tough for Indian fans but we should realize that barring a few mistakes, India did perform well and the confidence going into this game should be high from a fan's perspective. The biggest confidence booster is of course Virat Kohli looking so much more calm in the middle. Although Sri Lanka cannot be taken lightly, my money is India will win this today pretty convincingly!"

Nibraz Ramzan: "Dasun Shanaka yesterday hinted that there is a possibility of Dhananjaya de silva replacing Charith Asalanka. I don't think it's a wise move since DDS haven't played a T20i for a year now. Charith played the last three games and he is now getting used to the conditions. "

Remember, India have to win this. A loss here, and they'd be at the mercy of the other teams to have a chance of making it to the finals. Avesh Khan is likely to be fit, but it would be a very tough call to leave Bishnoi out after he clearly was the most impressive bowler against Pakistan. Also, given the shortage of bowling options the other night, India could be tempted to bring in Axar Patel, perhaps at the cost of Deepak Hooda. The Lankans look settled. The only thing they could be tempted to do is to bring in Praveen Jayawickrama as the left-arm spin option to replicate what Mohammad Nawaz did.

Originally posted by: la_Reine

I want India vs Pak final😆

Everyone wants this.

India /Pak people, news channels

ICC

Hotstar

Aaj India ko jeetna hai ⭐️

It's a must win for us 🥲🥺

I hope we do

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl first!!