Big picture – More grip and turn at the Khettarama?
Where do ODIs sit on world cricket’s priority list? The answer sits right there in India’s schedule: they only have one more ODI series lined up between their current tour of Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy in February-March 2025.
It’s a weird time for bilateral ODIs, then, and weirder still for a series involving Sri Lanka, who haven’t even qualified for the Champions Trophy. How appropriate, then, that Friday produced an absolute classic of the format, a twisty, slow-burning tie that showed – just as last year’s World Cup did, time after time – that the ODI remains a brilliant canvas for cricket’s skills. It would be a pity if the sport’s future landscape retained no meaningful space for the format.
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For now, two more matches of an unexpectedly zany tour remain. After three successive collapses in the T20Is – 9 for 30, 7 for 31 and 7 for 22 – Sri Lanka will take some confidence from how they fought back from 101 for 5 in the first ODI on Friday, and will hope they can push India even further in the next two matches.
The third T20I in Pallekele and the first ODI in Colombo both showed that spin-friendly conditions significantly narrow the quality gap between these teams. If Khettarama continues to provide ample grip and turn, then, who can say which way this series will tilt?
Form guide
Sri Lanka TLWLW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
India TWLWL
In the spotlight – Avishka Fernando and Washington Sundar
Since the start of 2023, when he returned from a year-long injury absence, Avishka Fernando hasn’t quite reached the heights he had promised in the early part of his ODI career. He has averaged under 20 over these last 19 months, and while that stretch has included scores of 88 and 91 against Afghanistan, it has also highlighted a tendency for early dismissal, with nine of his 13 innings bringing him single-digit scores. Avishka finished LPL 2024 as its third-highest run-getter, however, with 374 runs at an average of 37.40 and a strike rate of 162.60, suggesting that a return to his international best may also be imminent.
Washington Sundar began the first ODI promisingly, ripping his first ball past Charith Asalanka’s outside edge. He endured mixed returns thereafter, however; he picked up the wicket of the half-centurion Pathum Nissanka, but was easily the most expensive of India’s three main spinners, going for 46 in his nine overs and conceding 31 off 34 balls to left-hand batters, his favourable match-up. Then he was out for 5 after being promoted to No. 4. None of this would be held against him in the normal course of things, because all cricketers go through such days, but Washington knows he’s third in line behind Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel in India’s hierarchy of spin-bowling allrounders leading up to the Champions Trophy, with Riyan Parag also waiting for a chance to show what he can do in ODIs.
Team news – will Khaleel or Harshit get a chance?
Sri Lanka have the option of lengthening their batting by bringing in Chamika Karunaratne for Mohamed Shiraz, though it seems unlikely they would leave out a young fast bowler after just one game.
Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Kusal Mendis (wk), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka (capt), 6 Janith Liyanage, 7 Dunith Wellalage, 9 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Akila Dananjaya, 10 Mohamed Shiraz, 11 Asitha Fernando
India, meanwhile, could look to give Mohammed Siraj, who has featured in all three T20Is as well as the first ODI, a break, and give one of Khaleel Ahmed and Harshit Rana a go in the pace attack.
India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Arshdeep Singh
Pitch and conditions
Spinners took 13 of the 18 wickets that fell in the first ODI, and this was by no means unusual for Khettarama. Since the start of 2022, spin has accounted for as many wickets here (101) as pace, and while fast bowlers have returned a slightly better overall average here (27.04) than the spinners (28.82) in this time, they have also been more expensive, going at 5.28 to the spinners’ 4.67. Expect similar scenes on Sunday, weather permitting: scattered showers are expected through the day.
Stats and trivia
- India had won six ODIs on the bounce against Sri Lanka before Friday’s tie. Their last defeat came in July 2021, when Avishka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa made half-centuries in a successful chase of 227 in Colombo.
- Virat Kohli is 128 runs away from becoming the third batter, after Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara, to reach the milestone of 14,000 in ODIs.
- Siraj has an absurdly good ODI record against Sri Lanka: 20 wickets in seven matches at an average of 9.10.
- Pathum Nissanka has the best average (44.72) of the 21 Sri Lanka batters with at least 2000 ODI runs. He also has the fourth-best strike rate among them (90.47), with only Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera and Sanath Jayasuriya above him.
Karthik Krishnaswamy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
Source: ESPN Crickinfo
