INDIA FOCUS
India got their Champions Trophy campaign off to the perfect start with a comfortable win against Pakistan on Sunday.
What was most impressive about the Men in Blue’s performance was that their top four batsmen – Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, and Yuvraj Singh – all scored half-centuries.
The bowlers also put up a good show, but the fielding was below par, especially considering the standards set by the Indian team in recent years.
The Indian team management took a big call in not picking off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the last game as they opted for Ravindra Jadeja as the lone spinner.
“Ashwin is a high-class bowler, everyone knows that and he is very professional as well. He understood the dynamic of the side that we picked in the last game and he was absolutely fine with it,” said captain Kohli.
SRI LANKA FOCUS
Sri Lanka ended up on the receiving end of a 96-run defeat against South Africa in their opening match and will need a quick turnaround in their fortunes as they face a strong Indian side.
While Sri Lanka will be boosted by the return of skipper Angelo Mathews, they will miss Upul Tharanga who has been suspended for two matches because of a slow over-rate in the game against the Proteas when he was standing in as captain.
Chamara Kapugedera has been ruled out of the tournament after he suffered a knee injury during training. He has been replaced in the squad by Danushka Gunathilaka.
DATE, TIME, VENUE INFO
Date: June 8, 2017 (Thursday)
Time: 13:30 GST, 10:30 local, 09:30 GMT, 15:00 IST, 14:30 PKT
Venue: Kennington Oval, London
WHERE TO WATCH, LIVE STREAMING INFO
TV: UAE – OSN Sports Cricket HD
Full coverage on Sport360.com.
PROBABLE INDIA XI: Rohit, Dhawan, Kohli (c), Yuvraj, Dhoni (wk), Jadhav, Pandya, Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar, Umesh, Bumrah.
PROBABLE SRI LANKA XI: Dickwella (wk), Kusal Perera, Mendis, Chandimal, Mathews (c), Gunaratne, Thisara Perera, Prasanna, Lakmal, Malinga, Pradeep.
SPORT360 MATCH PREDICTION: On paper, India seem to have the better side and go into the game as favourites.