FANTASY
Follow UsLike it was the case in the ODI series, India have made a winning start in the T20I series as well. Defeating Sri Lanka by 38 runs - a big margin in T20 cricket - they are leading the series 1-0. Although, Sri Lanka will take heart from putting up a spirited performance. They were in the hunt for a majority of the match until their middle-order, barring Charith Asalanka, capitulated.
Here we present you some helpful tips on the basis of our Criclytics projected points system that may help you create a perfect Fantasy XI for the second T20I, to be played on Tuesday (26th July) at Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium.
Ground Details and Team Combination
The venue also hosted the first T20I, which was its first since October 2018. Premadasa has generally been a batting friendly venue but the series suggested enough assistance for the spinners and the trend continued in the first T20I as well. There are some quality spinners on offer and it would be ideal to have at least two of them in your XI.
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
Shikhar Dhawan has transformed himself into a consistent performer in the shortest format of the game. The left-handed opener amassed 618 runs (at 44.14) at an impressive strike rate of 144.73 in IPL 2020. He was also the leading run-getter in IPL 2021 - 380 runs at 54.28 before the tournament came to a halt. In the first T20I, he scored a crucial 46, tackling Sri Lankan spinners on the sluggish track. Being a left-hander, he is also in better position to tackle the Sri Lankan leg-spinners.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Dhawan could score 34-50 runs in this match
X-Factors
Wanindu Hasaranga has been a star performer for Sri Lanka for a while now. He is yet to show his calibre with the bat this series but the leg-spinner has consistently picked wickets for Sri Lanka. He has picked 16 wickets in 12 T20Is since 2020, the most for Sri Lanka. The impressive aspect about him is his economy of 6 runs per over, the lowest amongst all prime leg-spinners since 2020.
Suryakumar yadav has made some sort of impact in each of the four games on this tour thus far. He was the Player of the Series in ODIs and have begun the T20Is on a great note too, scoring 50 off 34 balls. His biggest strength is his strokeplay against spin. Surya has been brilliant in terms of picking the variation, something which has enabled him to counter the slow pitches in Sri Lanka.
Here are the top-10 picks as per Criclytics projected points:
Player Match-Ups 
Well, this is an odd match-up, isn’t it? Sanju Samson has faced Wanindu Hasaranga twice in T20Is and on both occasions, it took the leg-spinner only a delivery to get rid of the right-hander. The mode of dismissal has also been the same. Samson has failed to pick Hasaranga’s googly to be caught plumb in front of the stumps. It would be interesting to see if Hasaranga can make it three in three in the second T20I.
Probable XIs
Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Minod Bhanuka (wk), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Isuru Udana, Praveen Jayawickrama, Dushmantha Chameera
India: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prithvi Shaw, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy, Yuzvendra Chahal
