Sri Lanka and India are currently involved in the first ODI of the three-match series in Colombo. Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka won the toss and opted to bat first as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returned to play ODI cricket for the first time since the 2023 World Cup final. Meanwhile, the Indian players were seen wearing black armbands to pay tribute to the former India cricketer Anshuman Gaekwad who passed away on July 31.
Gaekwad played 40 Test matches and 15 ODIs for India before becoming a selector and then the coach of the team. He died at the age of 71 on Wednesday following a long battle with blood cancer. Overall, Gaekwad scored 1985 runs in Tests and 269 runs in ODIs with his highest score in the longest format being 201 against Pakistan which was then the slowest ever double-century in first-class cricket.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma stated that he was absolutely devastated to hear the news of the demise of Anshuman Gaekwad. "I was lucky to have a few conversations with him during the BCCI awards, and on a personal note as well. When I was playing Ranji Trophy, he was there and I had a chance to speak to him when he had a few things to talk about my game as well, which was overwhelming for me because he was such a great cricketer for us.
"It's always nice when you learn from your seniors, understand how cricket was played back in the day, how tough it was and then to pass on his experiences on cricket and what his visions are about cricket. For me, to understand that was a great learning at that point. Condolences to his family, it's not a good time when you lose your loved ones, it's always tough. I was lucky that I had a few chances to meet him and talk to him on a personal level," Rohit said in the pre-match press conference.
As far as the first ODI is concerned, Sri Lanka opted to bat first after winning the toss as they handed a debut to fast bowler Mohammed Shiraz. India, meanwhile, picked KL Rahul over Rishabh Pant as a wicket-keeper and also preferred Shivam Dube over Riyan Parag in the playing XI.
Playing XIs
India - Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh
Sri Lanka - Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Asitha Fernando, Akila Dananjaya, Mohamed Shiraz
