SL vs IND 2024: Why is Rishabh Pant not starting the opening ODI?

In the 50-over format of the current trip, captains Rohit Sharma and Charith Asalanka made an appearance for the toss before to the first ODI at the R. Premdasa Stadium in Colombo, following India’s victory over the hosts Sri Lanka in the T20I portion of the match. Asalanka turned the tables on a dismal Friday, August 02, afternoon when he announced that his team would bat first.

The Lankans were plagued by injuries and other issues prior to the start of the series. Due to their early elimination from the series, Matheesha Pathirana and Dilshan Madhushanka left a rather inexperienced group to handle bowling duties.

Regarding the team captained by Rohit Sharma, he said that he will open with deputy Shubman Gill, with Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer coming up next in the top order. As the southpaw was rested for the first match, India’s KL Rahul took over for the wicketkeeping responsibilities against Rishabh Pant. At the toss, Rohit withheld the reasons behind Pant’s exclusion.

Also Read: Better pressure management is required of Sri Lankan players, as is more awareness of cricket. Sanat Jayasuriya

Other noteworthy additions were Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube, who haven’t typically appeared in the format. Axar Patel is another all-round player who completes the Men in Blue’s playing lineup. Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh will be India’s pacers for the match.

Here are the playing combinations for SL vs IND, 1st ODI at Colombo:

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (w), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka(c), Janith Liyanage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Akila Dananjaya, Asitha Fernando, Mohamed Shiraz

Here’s what both the captains said at the toss:

Rohit Sharma (India captain): Good pitch. We have played a lot of cricket here and know the conditions. There has been a lot of changes; I am back, so is Virat (Kohli), KL (Rahul) and Shreyas Iyer. Kuldeep (Yadav) also comes back in. (Shivam) Dube is also playing. We have a pretty decent balance. We had a great (ODI) World Cup, we didn’t cross the finishing line, but there were a lot of positives. We have created an atmosphere where guys can come in and play with freedom. Not really (on whether he will bowl), I will focus on my batting. We have enough bowlers in the squad that can roll their arm over.

Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka captain): We are going to bat first. It looks like a dry pitch and that’s the reason. We are going with 6-5 combination. Shiraz is making his debut today. We have to improve our mental skills, we did some bad things in the last game but that is the past and we are looking forward to this game. It is a concern as a captain but I am looking forward to going with my second line of bowling.