January 3 marked the 1st match of Asian countries (India and Sri Lanka) for the cricketing year 2023. It was the first T20I of the Sri Lanka tour of India 2023 and India won it on the very last ball by 2 runs.
Now it’s time for the 2nd T20I of the series which will be played at Pune. India will take an unbeatable lead if they win the match. On the other hand, the series result will be decided on the 7th of January (3rd T20I) if Sri Lanka emerges victorious.
Here we will cover this match in detail and a fantasy team will also provide the fantasy team for this match at the end
Date and Time: 05 January, Thursday, 7:00 PM IST
Streaming Platforms: Star Sports Network and Disney+Hotstar app and website
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India
The last 4 months haven’t gone the way Indian cricket would have wanted to. Be it Asia Cup or T20 World 2022, India got unsatisfying results in both tournaments. However, they managed to win a series in New Zealand (1-0) with the last match being tied (DLS).
India won the first T20I by just 2 runs. Hooda and Axar stitched an unbeatable 68 runs partnership in just 35 balls which assisted India in posting a target of 160+. Debutant Shivam Mavi performed well with the ball and took a wicket in his first over and 4 in total.
Sri Lanka
2022 was a year to remember for Sri Lanka. They won the Asia Cup, and qualified for the Super 12 round of the T20 World Cup even after losing the first group stage match to Namibia.
In the first match, Sri Lanka’s lower order had nearly chased the target for them by taking it to 13 off the last over but lost by a couple of runs. Hasaranga took 1 wicket for just 22 runs in his spell of 4 overs and scored quick 21 runs in 10 balls. Shanaka and Karunaratne scored 45 and 23 respectively. Their top order needs to score runs if they want to win the match and make the last T20I the decider.
Pitch Report/Venue Report
The MCA has hosted only 3 T20I matches so far with two being played between none other than India and Sri Lanka and both teams won one each.
The pitch here can favour the batters as the ground has smaller boundaries and the outfield is quite fast.
Slower bowlers can trouble the batsman as the pitch is made up of black soil and has got a good amount of bounce. Quality spinners will also be effective here as the black soil will provide a better grip.
- Total Matches Played- 3
- Matches Won Batting First- 1
- Matches Won Batting Second- 2
- Average First Innings Score- 153
Probable Playing XI
India: Ishan Kishan (WK), Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Shivam Mavi, Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal
Sri Lanka: Kusal Mendis(WK), Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka(C), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka
Players To Watch Out For
Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar has established himself as the most dangerous batsman in the shortest format. He scored a total of 1164 runs in 31 innings at a phenomenal strike rate of 187.43 and was the highest run scorer of T20Is in 2022.
Sky couldn’t perform well in the first match and got dismissed early but he will surely look forward to making a comeback in the second match by scoring some important runs and leading India to victory.
Shivam Mavi
Mavi has been performing really well in the recent domestic white ball matches. He took 14 wickets at an average of 17.6 in the latest season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Based on such performances, he got his maiden call-up for this series. He capitalized on this opportunity very well by taking 4 wickets for 22 runs in the first match and emerged as the man of the match.
Mavi will be looking to repeat such a performance and seal his place in the Indian T20 team.
Dasun Shanaka
Dasun Shanaka has been one of the major reasons for Sri Lanka’s recent rise in T20 cricket. He had a decent run in 2022 scoring 497 runs at a strike rate of 136.
Shanaka played a superb knock in the first match scoring 45 off 27 and smashed 6 boundaries but failed to cross the line. The skipper utilised his bowlers really well and managed to restrict India to 162.
His role will be crucial in the second match as well in both captaincy and batting.
IND vs SL 2nd T20i Fantasy Team
Join our Telegram Channel Clan For Gamers to get the final team (after the result of the toss)
Match Predictions
- We predict India to win the match and seal the series.
- Suryakumar Yadav can score 50+ runs and
- Wanindu Hasranga might take at least 2 wickets.
