India vs Sri Lanka 2023

After Pandya won the toss and chose to bowl first, the Indians conceded 55 runs without any success in the power-play as Kushal Mendis made merry. They pulled things back in the middle overs before Sri Lanka hammered 77 runs in the last five overs to race to 206/6 in 20 overs with Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka blazing to a sensational 20-ball half century.

With the bat dominating the ball on a true pitch on which bowlers were rewarded for putting in extra effort, Shanaka hammered 56 off 22 deliveries after Mendis had blazed away to 52 off 31 as Sri Lankans capitalising on wayward and ineffective Indian bowling to post 206/6 in 20 overs after being asked to bat first by Hardik Pandya who won the toss.

After Mendis had given the visitors a good start by racing to his fifty off 27 deliveries on being asked to bat first, Shanaka went better as he blazed to a half-century off 20 balls -- both of them feasting on some ineffective medium-pace bowling. Shanaka was totally dominant in the death overs and with Charith Asalanka hammering a 19-ball 37, Sri Lanka blasted 77 runs for loss of two wickets in the last five overs, thus reaching the second-highest score on this ground.

Samson hurt his left knee while attempting to field a ball near the boundary ropes during the 1st T20I at the Wankhede Stadium here. He was taken for scans and a specialist opinion this afternoon by the BCCI Medical Team and has been advised rest and rehabilitation. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Jitesh Sharma as replacement for Samson, the BCCI said in a statement on Wednesday.

Riding on Mavi's four-wicket haul, India held their nerve to sneak in a two-run win over Sri Lanka in the first T20I in Mumbai on Tuesday night. The young pacer picked up two wickets in the Powerplay, sending back Pathum Nissanka and Dhananjaya de Silva to start his debut on a fine note. Alongside skipper Hardik Pandya, Mavi gave India a good start with the ball as the visitors managed just 35 runs in the first six overs.

India started 2023 with victory thanks to some good bowling by Mavi, Harshal Patel and Umran Malik as they prevailed over Sri Lanka in a last-ball thriller. With a modest 162 to defend, India needed to get early wickets to put Sri Lanka under pressure and they did just that, eventually getting them all out for 160 in 20 overs. 

As India embarked on a hectic schedule in which they will play six T20Is, nine ODIs and four Tests (against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Australia) in the first three months of the ODI World Cup year, questions over the bowling of India's key allrounder were justified. Pandya blasted over the boundary the first question on how he will manage his bowling.

Hooda hammered 41 not out off 23 deliveries, hitting one boundary and four sixes while Patel struck 31 not out off 20 balls (three fours and one six) as India recovered from a precarious 94/5 in the 15th over. Their sensible batting took India to a decent total and they can defend it if the bowlers manage to strike some early blows and put the Sri Lankans in early trouble.

Bumrah was out of cricketing action since September 2022 and was also ruled out of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup due to a back injury. The pacer has undergone rehabilitation and has been declared fit by the National Cricket Academy (NCA). He will be joining the Team India ODI squad soon, the BCCI said in a statement on Tuesday.

It is a totally different squad from the one that Rohit Sharma led to the semi-finals against England with only Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel from the playing XI that lost the semis being retained. The selectors have bought in players like Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Umran Malik and Sanju Samson and will be looking forward to seeing how they cope with the challenge.