India vs Sri Lanka 1st ODI Preview: Confident India battle under Pressure Lanka

After whitewashing Sri Lanka in the Test Series, Kohli's Army will take on Upul Tharanga led Sri Lanka in the 5 Match ODI Series starting from 20 August, Sunday.

India have made 7 changes to the ODI Squad that last played against the Windies. KL Rahul, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur are a few names who have made the side. Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant have been excluded whereas Ashwin, Jadeja and Umesh have been rested for this series.

The question over KL Rahul batting spot has been answered.
"We are going to try out KL Rahul at No. 4 in this series", chief selector MSK Prasad said in a bid to present a fresh start to their 2019 World Cup build up.

Dhawan and Rohit will be opening the innings for India. Rahane will only be served as a reserve opener. The Skipper will bat at number 3 followed by Rahul at number 4.

This has pushed the former Indian Captain - M.S. Dhoni at number 5. There will be a tussle for the number 6 position between Kedar Jadhav and Manish Pandey. Jadhav has proved himself whenever he has represented India in the limited over format and holds a slight advantage over Pandey as he also will be providing a finger spin option for Kohli.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya will be batting at number 7 giving strength to the lower-middle order while the bowling department will be lead by Kuldeep Yadav. There would be another choice to make for Virat between Chahal and Axar Patel, but considering Kohli's aggressive style of play, we must see the leg-break bowler in action. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah will surely be the two seamers.

Talking about the opposition, a direct spot in the World Cup is on the lines. Sri Lanka need to win 2 games before September 30 for direct qualification to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

Sri Lanka was defeated 3-2 by Zimbabwe in their last series by the same Sri Lankan side had beaten India in the Champions Trophy as well.

Upul Tharanga will be happy of the fact that his old but sharp weapon Angelo Mathews can also contribute with the ball alongside the return of all-rounders Thisara Perera and Milinda Siriwardena.

India's history against Sri Lanka at Dambula is not great which would serve as a morale-booster for Sri Lanka in the 1st ODI, yet I believe that, India shall win the opener of the series and take a 1-0 lead in the 5 Match Series!

Cheers,
Sparsh