Mirpur: India will face Sri Lanka in their third T20 clash of Asia Cup at Shere-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur today.
After winning seven of their last eight T20s and defeating their biggest arch-rivals in the last match, Men in Blue look confident enough to take on the struggling Sri Lanka, which has already lost six of their last eight T20 games.
While injuries to key players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma just before the ICC World T20 is a big worry for the Indian team, the knee problem of Sri Lankan skipper and their key bowler Lasith Malinga is giving them jitters.
It is still not known whether Lasith Malinga would be fit enough to play next two matches.
In case of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan not playing today's match, Parthiv Patel is likely to start the Indian innings with Ajinkya Rahane.
It goes without saying that India will once again rely on an in-form Virat Kohli to do the job for the side alongside the experienced Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh in the middle-order.
In the bowling department, Dhoni will hope his young gun Jasprit Bumrah along with experienced Ashish Nehra and spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to continue their good form.
The defending World Twenty20 champions Sri Lanka, despite having experienced Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dinesh Chandimal and Lasith Malinga in their playing eleven, have failed to make an impact in the ongoing Asia Cup which will be immediately followed by World T20 Championship starting next month in India.
Probable Team Squads:
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (wk & capt), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Aswhin, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah
Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Milinda Siriwardana, Dasun Shanaka, Angelo Mathews, Chamara Kapugedara, Shehan Jayasuriya, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Dushmantha Chameera, Lasith Malinga (capt)/ Thisara Perera
