India vs Sri Lanka 2016: Five takeaways from India vs Sri Lanka T20I series

This slideshow depicts the major takeaways from the recent India-Sri Lanka Twenty20 series, which India eventually won by a 2-1 margin. India are clear favourites heading into the Asia Cup and the subsequent World Twenty20 while defending champions Sri Lanka, hindered by injuries to key players and indifferent performances from others don’t even look like competing. But despite finding a balanced side, India have a few issues which they will look to rectify in the coming weeks.

#1 India find their strike bowler

Nehra has, at 36, found his niche as India’s strike bowler in the shortest format

Twenty20 cricket with its fast pace, high standards on the field, and unreasonably high strike rate demands, was thought, initially, to be exclusively a young man’s game.

But over the years, the T20 format has seen a number of cricketers ply their trade in the format across the world like Brad Hogg, Chris Gayle, Shane Watson, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Brad Hodge among others.

International teams and selectors have understood that in a format so skewed in favour of the batsmen, and as unpredictable as it is, experienced campaigners are crucial.

Dilhara Fernando, Ashish Nehra and Umar Gul have re-emerged as new-ball bowlers for their respective nations in the last few months.

Nehra, especially, has been extremely impressive with the new ball taking wickets up front in almost every match India played against Australia and Sri Lanka at home. The 36-year-old is now viewed as a T20 specialist for India, and the World T20 at home could be a fitting farewell for one of India’s most under-rated pace bowlers of the last decade.

#2 The Bumrah phenomenon

Jasprit Bumrah’s accuracy and ability to bowl yorkers has given India an extra dimension headed into the future

As India captain MS Dhoni rightly pointed out earlier in the season, Jasprit Bumrah has been India’s find this winter. Initially not drafted into the squad for Australia, he made his way into the XI after an injury to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and made an immediate impact.

Bumrah hasn’t had a poor match since, be it the ODIs or the T20Is that India has played. Bumrah has shown a prodigious ability to bowl spot-on yorkers, a calm head under pressure, and an ability to keep the economy-rate low.

India has invested a lot of faith in Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, and Varun Aaron over the years as possibly aggressive and wicket-taking options that could hold their own in the international game, but it’s the unassuming Bumrah who has filled the gap brilliantly.

One can only hope that Bumrah doesn’t join the long line of the past Indian seamers: bowlers that have burned brightly briefly in international cricket before fizzling out.

#3 Is Yuvraj past his prime?

Yuvraj Singh looks well past his prime and selecting him has seemed regressive

After scoring a flurry of runs in the domestic Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this winter, Yuvraj Singh was drafted into India’s squad for the Australia T20s owing to a scarcity of both pinch-hitters, as well as all-round options for India.

Slogging in the final overs was seen as a chink in India’s armour, and it resulted in slightly below-par scores in the first three ODIs against Australia. Hardik Pandya, the Gujarat batting all-rounder of Mumbai Indians fame, was drafted into the XI as a lower order slogger in the James Faulkner mould.

And although Pandya’s medium-pace looked raw and ordinary, his 27(12) against the Lankans on Sunday showed that he could clear the ropes at will in the last three or four overs if required.

India’s solid top-order means that any lower order batsman would, hypothetically, only be required to face a few balls. And Yuvraj Singh is perhaps not that sort of a player. He made Indian fans nervous in the last T20I against Australia, when he arrived at the crease in the 18th over, and with was at 5(9) at one point before finding the ropes a couple of times in the last over to win the game for India.

He looked a liability with the bat and ball, and the recall seemed regressive then. He has done almost nothing to change that.

#4 Sri Lanka\'s chances at the World T20

Dilshan has been Sri Lanka’s only consistent batsmanfor the last eighteen months

Granted that Sri Lanka lost two world-class batsmen and legends of the modern game in Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara over the last year or so, but they were never really impact T20 players, and certainly didn’t win the World Cup for Sri Lanka last time round.

In 2014 final, it was the wily death-overs bowling of Nuwan Kulasekara and Lasith Malinga that made the Indian batsmen look horrendous. Rangana Herath defended an extremely sub-par total in a crunch game against New Zealand with a tremendous spell of off break bowling.

Kulasekara and Malinga are mere shadows of their former selves, and Herath, late into his thirties is unable to keep up with the rigorous demands of the international schedule. The batting is even more discouraging, with experienced but young talents like Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal unable to kick on and produce runs consistently.

Losing their only proper T20 batsman, Kusal Perera, to a failed doping test means that they now have no in-form, established players in the XI. Tillakaratne Dilshan has been carrying the limited-overs teams on his shoulders for the last year or so, and has averaged nearly 50 with the bat last year in ODI cricket.

Whenever Dilshan has failed, Sri Lanka has failed to put on a respectable total. Their only ODI victory in New Zealand last year was a result of a 90-odd from Dilshan.

Sri Lanka look jaded, uninspiring and extremely fallible, and their match win against India wasn’t taken seriously because the green mamba at Pune wasn’t reflective of how pitches are and will be in the rest of India come the World Twenty20.

#5 India- the favourites for World T20

The West Indies, fielding a first-choice squad, are perhaps the only other formidable-looking sideapart from India, who have emerged as clear favourites

India, just like last time, are coasting to the World Twenty20 with a solid, fixed XI and a strong bench. India have been drawn into a tough group with Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan, but going by current form, it would be a major shock if they don't make it to the semis.

West Indies, after scaring the world with their board-player dispute, are now with a first-choice XI, and are perhaps the only other team that looks formidable on paper.

But as Sri Lanka showed last time, the format can be extremely unpredictable, and matches can turn very quickly on the back of an individual’s brilliance. As evidenced by different winners in every edition of the event, the World T20 could still be anyone’s game.

Having said that, India definitely look the strongest on paper, followed closely by the Windies and the new-look England side.