India look for a quick series wrap; Sri Lanka aim to restore parity

India's showing in the series opener against Sri Lanka on Saturday was an early sign of a smooth transition. Nearly a month ago, India bid farewell to two giants - and openers - Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from this format but almost immediately have an able duo to step into the enormous shoes.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill smashed 11 fours and three sixes between them in a whirlwind powerplay, and set the team up for what had to follow. In terms of manoeuvering around the experience void at the top, it made for a great start. Even as Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav will know that one swallow doesn't make a summer, they now have two openers - aged 24 and 22- with ample T20 experience to ease India through these supposed fresh beginnings.

As far as blank slates go for Sri Lanka, they will not be too disappointed with how their Saturday transpired either. Charith Asalanka's top-order went toe-to-toe in the batting PowerPlay to straightaway let India know that their total of 213/7 wasn't necessarily safe. Asalanka ended up ruing the absence of batting impetus in the middle-order after a fantastic set-up, as well as the bowling in the early stages, but he has a lot to be optimistic about heading ahead into the series. Small tweaks and fine-tuning is all they might need on Sunday in their quest for series parity.

When:Sri Lanka vs India, 2nd T20I, July 28, 07:00 PM Local time (7 PM IST)

Where:Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele

What to expect:Thunderstorms are in the offing in the afternoon but are expected to clear well before the match start time. Expect another game of big scores.

Teams Watch:

Sri Lanka

Injury/Availability:Sri Lanka have a clean bill of health from the first game. They're likely to persist with the same XI.

Tactics & Match-ups:Asalanka might want to use more of his ambidextrous spinner Kamindu Mendis. The left-arm variant of the spinner could be handy against Shubman Gill, who has been dismissed 4 times by left-arm orthodox spin in T20Is. Hardik Pandya, who usually takes the game to the spinners, has been tied down by left-arm orthodox spinners in this format [76 runs in 84 balls; 1 dismissal]. Kamindu could be a wily weapon against India's finisher too.

Probable XI:Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka.

India

Injury/Availability:India too don't have any injuries from the first T20I and any changes are unlikely.

Tactics & Match-ups:Another early duel between Pathum Nissanka and Axar Patel is on the cards. The left-arm spinner has dismissed the Sri Lankan opener twice in 23 balls in T20Is, including in the series opener. Nissanka did take him on in the PowerPlay in the first T20I on his way to a big score.

There's even a one-sided tussle to keep an eye on between Mohammed Siraj and Kusal Mendis. Heading into the series, the Sri Lankan opener had been dismissed four times in 29 deliveries from Siraj. He faced just three balls from the pacer in the first T20I and came away unscathed, but Siraj will be gunning for another face-off on Sunday.

Probable XI:Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj

Did you know:

-In the current Sri Lankan squad, Dasun Shanaka has the most T20I wickets against India (14 in 22 matches). He was unused with the ball on Saturday.

-Even before his swashbuckling 58 off 26 in the first game, Suryakumar Yadav had impressive T20I numbers against Sri Lanka. In just six innings against them, Suryakumar now has three 50-plus scores and a century. He also strikes at well over 150 against this opposition.

What they said:

"We were not up to the mark in the powerplay, but in the latter part, we came back pretty strong. Some stage, we thought they might get to 240, but we did well. Little disappointed with the way the middle-order batted, we could have done better." - Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka

"What happens is when you continuously play cricket for India, you have some surety and when you do well in some pressure situations, you get some confidence. And each time you get confidence, you always learn from it. It's not that you'll always do well in pressure situations and you might fail as well. But, those situations teach you that I could have done things differently and that has taught me a lot in the last one year especially." - Axar Patel