Tweet
Toss India chose to bat against Sri Lanka
India's season started on a good note as MS Dhoni won the toss at a windy Hamabantota. "I've been practising tosses during my off days," Dhoni joked, referring to his poor form at the toss.
India chose to bat, and also chose to pick Irfan Pathan as their third fast bowler, and slotted him at No. 7, asking him to contribute with the bat as well. The only other frontline bowler retained from India's previous ODI, in the Asia Cup, is offspinner R Ashwin. Quicks Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav are back after a break, while left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha gets his first game in nearly two years. Rahul Sharma, the legspinner who is involved in a controversy after news emerged of him testing positive for recreational drugs, was not picked.
There weren't any surprises in Sri Lanka's line-up, with left-arm-spinner Rangana Herath taking the place of Jeevan Mendis.
India: 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Pragyan Ojha
Sri Lanka: 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Rangana Herath
India's season started on a good note as MS Dhoni won the toss at a windy Hamabantota. "I've been practising tosses during my off days," Dhoni joked, referring to his poor form at the toss.
India chose to bat, and also chose to pick Irfan Pathan as their third fast bowler, and slotted him at No. 7, asking him to contribute with the bat as well. The only other frontline bowler retained from India's previous ODI, in the Asia Cup, is offspinner R Ashwin. Quicks Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav are back after a break, while left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha gets his first game in nearly two years. Rahul Sharma, the legspinner who is involved in a controversy after news emerged of him testing positive for recreational drugs, was not picked.
There weren't any surprises in Sri Lanka's line-up, with left-arm-spinner Rangana Herath taking the place of Jeevan Mendis.
India: 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Pragyan Ojha
Sri Lanka: 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Rangana Herath