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A strange turn of events sees the Indian team playing their second match of the Super 4 stage in the Asia Cup in less than 24 hours. After completing a comprehensive victory over Pakistan on Monday night, India will be up against Sri Lanka in a match, starting 3:00 PM in Colombo. While changing the winning combination might not be ideal, the fact that the players will be playing without a single day’s breather, the team management might decide to bench one or two players in order to keep the team fresh for the remainder of the campaign, and the forthcoming ODI World Cup.
Shreyas Iyer didn’t make it to India’s XI in the match against Pakistan, having missed out due to back spasms. KL Rahul, the man who replaced him in the team, scored a century, all but confirming his spot in the middle-order. While Ishan Kishan has done incredible with the bat too, the management has a big dilemma over which player to replace in order to accommodate Iyer.
In the match against Sri Lanka, however, Ishan Kishan might make way for Shreyas Iyer, if the latter is fully fit. Iyer is integral to India’s plans for the ODI World Cup and getting him the required match practice is crucial in order to have him best-prepared for next month’s showpiece event.
As for the Pakistan match, two brilliant centuries from Kohli and Rahul followed by Kuldeep Yadav’s five-wicket haul saw India secure a gigantic win over their traditional rivals, Pakistan.
Kuldeep, who is also a part of India’s World Cup squad, bagged his second ODI five-for as India clinched a huge 228-run win. For Pakistan, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf didn’t come out to bat in Pakistan’s chase because of their respective injuries. With this mammoth victory, India clinched the top spot in of Asia Cup 2023 Super 4s table and are in pole position to qualify for the final.
India’s likely Playing XI vs Sri Lanka: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan/Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
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