Last Update on: January 5th, 2020 at 12:33 am
Team India, who had a terrific outing in 2019 will be keen to make a winning start to the year when they lock horns with Sri Lanka in the first of the three-match T20I series starting from January 5 (Sunday) at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. The focus will be on returning stars Jasprit Bumrah and Shikhar Dhawan while Angelo Mathews will be making a comeback after a long injury lay-off.
The experienced Mathews had been axed from the Sri Lankan T20I side after a string of poor performances in mid-2018. Having featured in 72 T20Is scoring 1055 runs at a reasonable average of 27.05, Mathews lends solidity to a promising but sometimes frail Sri Lankan batting line-up. He will perhaps want to work on his strike-rate, which currently reads 118.14 in the shortest format.
Read More: India vs Sri Lanka 2020: 1st T20I – India’s Predicted Playing XI
Batting was an area of particular concern for Sri Lanka on their tour of Australia late last year – they lost 3-0 – and they will hope that the return of Mathews can help fix some of those problems. On the other hand, the Indians will have a keen eye on Jasprit Bumrah, who will be back in action almost after four months from a lower back injury.
India will come out with a new opening combination in Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul, who will look to combat the likes of Lasith Maling and Isuru Udana. They will be followed by a strong batting line-up led by Virat Kohli who will look to dominate the visitors.
Weather Forecast
It rained two days before the game, but the forecast cleared up pretty significantly a day before the game. Expect plenty of runs and both teams will hope to chase. The winter chill has picked up as well, and that means dew will be a crucial factor.
Meanwhile, the temperature will hover around 16 degrees Celsius at the start of the game, and it will come down to 14 degrees, but there are chances of rains which can spoil the game time.
Here are some more details:
