🏏 India tour of Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka vs India, 2nd ODI, Colombo🏏 - Page 3

Sri Lanka have not beaten India in an ODI bilateral series since 1997 but have a strong chance to break the hoodoo here. One win and that's it. Job done. However, if there's one thing that the world has gotten to know about this Indian team, it's that they come back stronger after a result doesn't go their way – fiercely determined and more ruthless. The tie from two nights ago would be like a bruise for the players, more so Gambhir, who along with Kohli, celebrated a bit prematurely once Shivam Dube hit a boundary to level the scores.

India would be aware that they cannot put up another shoddy batting display in the middle order. The gulf between captain Rohit Sharma and the rest of the batters is so wide that barring the India captain's 58 off 47, the next best score was 33 from Axar Patel. Rohit seems to have continued from where he left off on November 19, and going by the first ODI, the other batters have too. Thanks to India's batting depth, they can recover but the need to do it two matches in a row would be cutting it too thin.

Below are a few pointers for the India vs Sri Lanka 2nd T20I:

- Sri Lanka will be without Wanindu Hasaranga for this game.

- Virat Kohli is a century and few more runs away from completing 14000 ODI runs.

- Dunith Wellalage is a threat for India with both the ball and bat in hand.

- India likely to remain unchanged from the 1st ODI, which means Harshit Rana will have to wait.

How should India tackle Sri Lanka's spin threat?

India vs Sri Lanka Live Score, IND vs SL 2nd ODI: Indian batters are natural strokeplayers, they like the ball coming on to the bat. It's no secret. In Sri Lanka, that is often not the case. The R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo offers a lot to the spinners. The biggest proof was Charith Assalanka walking away with crucial wickets in the first ODI. So what should India's batters do? For starters, Rohit has shown the way. They should maximise the powerplay to take the pressure off the middle overs but 10 overs of good cricket won't win you a 50-over match. The likes of Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer need to use the crease a lot more. And this doesn't only mean, charging down the track. They should be decisive in rocking back. When the play the sweep, they should not premeditate.

How Kohli and Rahul looked on their return

India vs Sri Lanka Live Score, IND vs SL 2nd ODI: Playing their first ODI since the final of the 2023 World Cup, both KL Rahul and Virat Kohli fared reasonably well. Kohli's 24 off 32 with a couple of well-timed boundaries was the perfect start to his innings before he was wrong-footed by Hasaranga. The same goes for Rahul. With India reduced to 132/5, Rahul played out of his skin, against top-quality spin and bailed India out of trouble, forging a partnership of 67 with Axar Patel. One more wicket could have landed India in further trouble but Rahul and Axar, like they have done on the previous so many occasions, came through.

Good luck to both teams

Sri Lanka: Wanindu Hasaranga will miss the remainder of the ODI series with a left hamstring injury and has been replaced in the squad by Jeffrey Vandersay. With Mohamed Shiraz not having much of a role to play in the first ODI, the hosts could be tempted to replace him with a fourth frontline spinner on a track expected to aid the tweakers.

Expect some changes from the hosts with Hasaranga being ruled out. Vandersay has been named as his replacement. Will India be tempted to bring in Riyan Parag for more spin options? That road may not be taken as yet but we will see the team combinations shortly. We are also hearing that today's match is going to be played on a fresh pitch.

Slow, spin, sluggish??? What's in store for us today at the RPS? These two teams treated us to a thrilling tie in the first ODI but both would have had a better idea of conditions to come. The weather in Colombo has some rain in the air throughout the course of the game but doesn't look that threatening to hamper the contest.

Avoiding defeat in the first ODI would have lifted Sri Lanka's spirits, but to make things worse for an already depleted side, Sri Lanka will be without the services of star leg-spinning allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga for the rest of the series, having injured his hamstring in the first game. You can read about his replacement, the players to watch out for and much more in KK's preview.

Pitch Report | Russel Arnold: It's a very warm afternoon. The breeze that is blowing across is warm. We have moved a couple of strips across. The pitch is dry. Very similar to the one we played on a couple of days ago. The gaps between the cracks are petty wide. There's going to be a lot of crumbling. Captain winning the toss would want to bat first. The key as a batter is to hit the gaps and run, wearing the opposition down.

Pitch Report | Russel Arnold: It's a very warm afternoon. The breeze that is blowing across is warm. We have moved a couple of strips across. The pitch is dry. Very similar to the one we played on a couple of days ago. The gaps between the cracks are pretty wide. There's going to be a lot of crumbling. Captain winning the toss would want to bat first. The key as a batter is to hit the gaps and run, wear the opposition down.

2pm And it's toss time! Rohit Sharma walks out, has a chat with Kusal Mendis, before joining Charith Asalanka in the middle.