After suffering a defeat in the ODI series against Bangladesh and winning the Test series 2-0 to wrap-up the year 2022. And now the Indian cricket team is back in action for the first time in the year 2023 against Sri Lanka, starting with the T20 series.
The Indian team rounded out the year 2022 with a mixed bag of results. But in a ICC Cricket World Cup year, that is take place later this year in India itself, the Men in Blue would hope to get off to a good start to the year.
The mission for the Indian team is against neighbours Sri Lanka. The mighty Lankan’s are the T20 Asian champions having won the Asia Cup 2022 beating Pakistan in the final. Team India will play 3 match T20I and as many ODI matches against the Lankan Lions.
The series commences on the 3rd of January with the 1st T20I in Mumbai. BCCI have most recently announced a somewhat new looking squad with the main players for the ODI squad rested for the T20 series. Today in this article, we predict the Men in. Blue’s Playing XI for the 1st T20I.
Opening
The Indian team has out and out opening batters in the squad, Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad, however wicketkeeper batsman Sanju Samson could be another option at the top. However, we think it will be the opening duo of Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan for the match. Gill masters in rotating the strike and can hit boundaries himself too, while Ishan Kishan is known for his hard-hitting batting.
Middle-order
The middle-order might consist of currently India’s best T20 batsman Suryakumar Yadav at number 3 while captain Hardik Pandya might feature at number 4 with wicketkeeper batsman Sanju Samson slotting in at number 5 or even 6. Suryakumar Yadav is currently the number 1 T20I batter in the world, and prefers to bat at number 3 or 4. Hardik Pandya might also bat up the order like he did for Gujarat Titans in the IPL under his captaincy.
All-rounders
As for the all-rounder, team India could play 2 out and out all-rounders. Deepak Hooda might bat number 6 or even 5 swapping place with Sanju Samson. The other all-rounder could very well be either of Washington Sundar or Axar Patel. But considering Sundar is young and can play aggressive cricket, we picked him ahead of Axar, also given Axar played Test series against Bangladesh.
Bowlers
An young Arshdeep Singh could be leading the Indian team’s bowling attack at number. Experienced bowler Harshal Patel also likely to feature, mainly at number 8 given his batting ability as well. The decision could be really tough to choose between Shivam Mavi and Umran Malik, but Malik might get the nod considering he has already played for the country. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal will be the final pick for us in the team.
India Playing XI vs Sri Lanka 1st T20I, Mumbai 2023
Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal
