India vs Sri Lanka: Men in Blue begin new era in shortest format with Hardik Pandya at helm

Team India will hope to begin a new era in the shortest format on a positive note when they take on Sri Lanka in the first of three T20Is in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The three-match series marks a radical shift in India’s approach to the format as they embark upon the road to the 2024 T20 World Cup with Hardik Pandya at the helm and Suryakumar Yadav his deputy, besides also being their first assignment of the new year.

While Pandya had captained India in their tours of Ireland and New Zealand last year, the general feeling was that of him filling on for regular skipper Rohit Sharma back then.

However, with the BCCI choosing to do away with Rohit, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul in the shortest format following the T20 World Cup, where India got brutally outplayed by England in the semis, there is little doubt as to who India’s T20I leader is going forward.

Though the T20 format will not be in as much focus as it was in 2022, given we have now entered an ODI World Cup year where the 50-over format takes precedence over others, it does matter on the longer run given it is the start of a new journey.

Focus on Indian top-order

The Men in Blue are unbeaten in bilateral T20I competitions since the 2021 T20 World Cup, having won nine out of 10 series’ with the five-match rubber against South Africa last summer ending in a 2-2 draw.

A record as formidable as that does give the Indian team the upper hand against the Sri Lankans, who have lost 11 of their last 13 bilateral series since 2019, though their performances certainly have improved a notch of late.

The focus for the hosts will be on finding the ideal replacements for the star trio of Rohit, Virat and Rahul, whose scoring rate had become something of a worry especially in multi-nation tournaments such as the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup.

While there will be little doubt over Ishan Kishan taking up one of the opener’s slots, especially after his heroic 210 in the third ODI against Bangladesh where he looked set to breach the 300-barrier at one point, it comes down to choosing between Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad as Kishan’s opening partner.

Though Gill has been consistent across formats, it’s Gaikwad’s enviable scoring rate in the domestic scene that perhaps puts him ahead in the pecking order.

Another toss-up in the Indian XI will be in the middle order where the team management will have to choose between Sanju Samson and Rahul Tripathi for a middle-order spot, most likely below skipper Hardik.

Despite the hosts picking the uncapped pair of Shivam Mavi and Mukesh Kumar, they are likely to persist with tried-and-tried options such as Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik (pace) and Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel (spin).

Chahal, especially, will hope to establish himself as the first-choice spinner in white-ball cricket starting with this series with Ravindra Jadeja injured and the Men in Blue overlooking Ravichandran Ashwin.

Lankan Lions seek inspiration from recent success

Though the Sri Lankans have not had much success in bilateral T20I cricket over the last four years, they certainly have been on the rise in multi-nation events of late.

The Dasun Shanaka-led side had after all defied all odds not just to reach the final of the Asia Cup in August-September, but to beat pre-tournament favourites Pakistan in the summit clash and win their first major tournament in eight years in the process.

Sri Lanka limited over squad led by Dasun Shanaka left the SLC HQ premises short while ago to embark on their tour to India.