After a disappointing loss against Pakistan, Team India lock horns with Sri Lanka in a must-win game in the Super 4 of Asia Cup 2022 on Tuesday, September 6. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are coming into this game on the back of a stunning victory against Afghanistan in Sharjah last Saturday.
Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and opted to field first, which has been the preferred mantra of all captains at this venue. The Islanders did not make any changes to their playing XI which won the game against Afghanistan.
The Men in Blue brought in veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in place of Ravi Bishnoi, who was the stand-out bowler in the previous game. The rest of the line-up remained unaltered as Dinesh Karthik continued to warm the bench.
Here are the playing XIs:
India XI: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Arshdeep Singh.
Sri Lanka XI: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Charith Asalanka, Danushka Gunathilaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Asitha Fernando, and Dilshan Madushanka.
Fans analyzed Team India's playing XI after the toss and shared their concerns in the form of hilarious memes on social media platforms. They were unhappy with the Indian think tank for leaving out Ravi Bishnoi and the non-inclusion of veteran wicketkeeper-batter Karthik.
Here is a collection of the best memes after the toss:
"When KL Rahul finds his feet and knows what the conditions are, he really takes down the bowlers"- Shane Watson on Team India vice-captain
Speaking in the latest edition of the ICC Review, Shane Watson reserved high praise for KL Rahul's batsmanship and game awareness skills. The former Australian all-rounder expressed his desire to witness a fearless version of Rahul in the Asia Cup.
Rahul has shown glimpses of his best version quite a few times in the IPL and sporadically in T20I cricket so far. Watson said:
“I just want him to be the best version of him. And the times where I’ve seen the best version of him is when he’s really taking on the game. We’ve seen it a number of times in the IPL, a number of times for India as well. When KL Rahul finds his feet and knows what the conditions are, he really takes down the bowlers."
He continued:
"Rahul can score at a 150-160 strike rate against the best bowlers in the world and that’d take a bit of pressure off Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as well. So for me, when Rahul is at his best, he’s really taking the game on. He’s not accumulating runs, he’s just taking them on, from ball one. That’s the skill he’s got."
Rahul did show signs of his aggressive self in the last match against Pakistan, where he gave India a quick start, scoring 28 off 20 balls.
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