India Keen To Seal Semi-Final Spot, SL Look To Keep World Cup Hopes Alive

Mumbai: Sri Lanka have a tough task as they take on an undefeated India in the World Cup clash here on Thursday.

India already have a foot in the semi-final and a victory in the match will ensure a place. Sri Lanka are placed seventh and have only four points from their six matches.

With their six-nil record in the current World Cup, India are the favourites for tomorrow’s encounter. However, the two teams have seen close fights in the past. India and Sri Lanka have faced each other nine times in the ODI World Cup and each team has won four and lost four of these encounters.

Last month in the Asia Cup final, India exposed Sri Lanka batting as Mohammed Siraj ripped through their innings in a dream spell.

While Sri Lanka seemed to have sorted out their batting, the bowling department has been a bit of a letdown. The Lions have batted first three times in the current campaign and each time they have failed to defend their total.

The absence of Wanindu Hasaranga has certainly impacted their bowling department, but the likes of Matheesha Pathirana and Dunith Wellalage, who were tipped to do well on the Indian surface, have struggled to pull out match-winning performances.

Sri Lanka may opt to bowl first if they win the toss. They would be inclined to take this decision after defending champions England managed to put the table leaders in a tough spot last Sunday.

If asked to bat first, India are expected to rely on their pacers Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah apart from Siraj.

Suryakumar Yadav has stepped in to replace injured Hardik Pandya but India have felt the need of an all-rounder to have bowling options.

Skipper Rohit Sharma has tried to set a good pace of innings and Virat Kohli will try to be among runs after a duck in the previous match.

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.

Sri Lanka Squad: Kusal Mendis (c), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Kumara, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Angelo Mathews, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushan Hemantha, Chamika Karunaratne.