Kolkata: Buoyed by the form of its top three batters, a clinical India will look to take an unassailable 2-0 lead when they face Sri Lanka in the second ODI here on Thursday. Having ended his century drought for nearly three years in a T20I against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup in September, Virat Kohli has not looked back since then especially in the white ball format and brought up his 73rd International century in their 67-run win in Guwahati on Tuesday.
Kohli in fine touch
He looked in supreme control in the first ODI in Guwahati on Tuesday and made Sri Lanka pay the price for two dropped chances to slam a back-to-back ODI hundreds that formed the backbone of India’s massive 373 for seven. It was like the Kohli of the old as he looked uncluttered and no Sri Lankan bowler troubled him. Returning from an injury, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma too allayed any concerns whatsoever of being short on match-fitness as he took on the Lankan attack in a 67-ball 83 to set the foundation for a mammoth total. He seemed to be in his zone before coming to his favourite venue Eden Gardens.
IND vs SL: Virat Kohli makes huge confession, says ‘I was cranky, snappy at Anushka’; watch
The last time the two teams met in an ODI here, Rohit struck that world record 264 eight years back. Now here in his favourite venue as the Indian skipper, Rohit would be definitely keen to get to a big score. That an ODI century is also eluding him since a long time — his last ODI hundred came against Australia in January 2020 would also be an added motivation.
Squad
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh.
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (c), Kusal Mendis (vc), Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ashen Bandara, Maheesh Theekshana, Chamika Karunaratne, Dilshan Madushanka, Kasun Rajitha, Nuwanidu Fernando (ODIs), Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan, Lahiru Kumara.
When: January 12, 2023
Where to Watch: Star Sports 1 , Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 HD Hindi, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Telugu, Star Sports 1 Kannada
Live Streaming: Hotstar
Timing: 1:30 pm IST onwards
IND vs SL: Virat Kohli makes huge confession, says ‘I was cranky, snappy at Anushka’; watch
