Sri Lanka vs India, 1st ODI: Fantasy Preview

India and Sri Lanka will resume their ODI rivalry after four years, when the two teams last clashed in a bilateral series. India toured Sri Lanka and whitewashed the hosts 9-0 across formats. Since then, the two teams contested in only ODI, in the 2019 World Cup. 

Both teams carry a different look than their last meeting. India have opted for a back-up squad to tour Sri Lanka while the home team are depleted because of various reasons. The three-match ODI series kicks off on Sunday (July 18) and with so many new faces, it is easy to get confused while framing your Fantasy combinations. Don’t worry, we have got you covered with important details. 

Ground Details and Team Combination

Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium has been a happy hunting ground for batsmen over the last three years. In five matches in this period, the average first innings score has been 302. Hence, we will advice you to pick a batting heavy side, especially if India bat first. Sri Lankan batting, on the other hand, has been quite poor in the last few years. 

The venue has had an average of 2.5 wickets per innings for spinners since 2018, the highest amongst all grounds to host ODI cricket in Sri Lanka. Both sides have some quality spinners which should not be missed out on.

Suggested Team

While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. You can use this tool to build your team with the help of algorithms. Based on your preferences, the platform will guide you to create the ideal fantasy XI.

Captaincy Suggestion

Suryakumar Yadav has been in superb form in white-ball cricket for a few years now. After knocking the selectors door for a while, he proved he is a player of international quality with a decent debut T20I series against England. Suryakumar then carried that form to IPL 2021 as well and now seems set to make his ODI debut. Given his form and flawless technique against both spin and pace, he is a handy captaincy option, given his hunger for runs at the highest level. However, he may bat at number four and on decent batting pitches, the top three batters can end up batting bulk of the overs, thus restricting the opportunity for the upcoming batsmen. 

Our Criclytics Players Projector predicts Suryakumar Yadav can score 50-76 runs in this match

X-Factors

Wanindu Hasaranga has been the one man army in Sri Lankan cricket for a while now. He has been at the top of the run-scoring charts for Sri Lanka in ODI cricket since 2020, scoring 403 runs. He has also picked nine ODI wickets in the same time period, the second most by a Sri Lanka bowler. Hasaranga is an emerging prospect in international cricket and would look to have another strong series with at least one facet of the game. Needless to say, he is a must pick and should be the captain or vice-captain of your side. 

Shikhar Dhawan is another must pick player. He may or may not open the innings but Dhawan has been in the form of his life. He has batted with some uncertainty over his spot in India’s regular white-ball XI and the southpaw has always revelled in such situations. 

Here are the top-10 picks as per Criclytics projected points-

Player Match-Ups  Dhananjaya de Silva has been the silver-lining to Sri Lanka’s falling batting numbers of late. However, the batting all-rounder has struggled against leg-spinners, averaging only 20.2 against them in last five years in ODI cricket. Overall, de Silva has an average of 23.2 against legging, his least against all bowling types. Either on of Yuzvendra Chahal or Rahul Chahar depending on who plays would like to exploit this match-up against him. You can check out more in-depth projections and key match-ups for this match here.

Probable XIs

India: Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Shikhar Dhawan (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson/Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini/Chetan Sakariya

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Dhanajaya de Silva, Minod Bhanuka (wk), Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Ramesh Mendis, Isuru Udana, Akila Danajaya, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha