Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first in the 1st t20 game against India being played in Pune on Tuesday, February 9, 2016.
The match start time is 14:00 GMT.
When latest report came in, the Indian score was 45/3 in 7 overs.
India, after a stunning show in Australia, will be trying to recreate the same magic again against Sri Lanka at home. India needs to win this three-match T 20 series to retain their top spot in the ICC T20I Championship table.
It should be noted that in the absence of Virat Kohli, the flagship holder of Indian batting line up will be Rohit Sharma, and he will be assisted by Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan.
But in all probabilities, the course of Indian batsmen in this series will not be that smooth as Sri Lanka is such a team which can boast about the service of some quality spinners which include, Sachithra Senanayake.
Star Sports is telecasting the T 20 match in India and Sri Lanka. PTV Sports will be broadcasting the series live in Pakistan. Cricket lovers in South Africa and England can watch the live telecast on Supersport and Sky Sports respectively. Willow TV is telecasting the match in the U.S.
Star Sports will also be live streaming the game at its official website starsports.comstarting 7:30 p.m. India time.
1st T20I. Toss won by Sri Lanka, who chose to field https://t.co/3JRnjIGh8R #IndvSL
— ICC Live Scores (@ICCLive) February 9, 2016
It should be noted that Indian batsmen scored heavily against the Australian pacers in the recently concluded series, but they will inevitably face tremendous difficulty in combating the spin attack of Sri Lanka.
Playing XI:
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra.
Sri Lanka: IDanushka Gunathilaka, Niroshan Dickwella, Dinesh Chandimal (c), Seekkuge Prasanna, Milinda Siriwardana, Chamara Kapugedera, Thisara Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Sachithra Senanayake, Kasun Rajitha, Dushmantha Chameera
The pitch in Pune is batting friendly, and the curator thinks that a first innings score of 180 will be competitive.
Spinners will get some quick turns, and in all probabilities, Sachithra Senanayake will act as a trump card in Sri Lankan bowling line-up.
Jaspreet Bumrah, who put up a decent show in Australia, will be the magic weapon of Indian in this series. The man with a unique bowling action has the capability to pick wickets at regular intervals, and if he succeeds in finding the form, then things will not be that easy for Sri Lankan batsmen.
