Sri Lanka win the toss and opt to field first. Ishan Kishan misses out after scoring a double hundred in the last ODI against Bangladesh. Left-arm-seamer Dilshan Madhushanka makes his ODI debut for Sri Lanka.
India dropped Ishan Kishan in the first ODI against Sri Lanka, this being the first ODI since he blasted a double hundred against Bangladesh in December 2022. On the eve of the match in Guwahati, India captain Rohit Sharma had said, “Ishan is very unfortunate, but it doesn’t rule out anything. We are going to try and keep everyone in the mix as we play a lot of games ahead.”
He further added, “Both have done really well. But it is fair that we give Gill a chance to have a fair run. In recent games, Gill has got a lot of runs. So has Ishan. He got a double hundred. I know what it takes to get a double ton. It is a great achievement. But just to be honest and fair to the guys who have done really well before that. It is unfortunate that we won’t be able to play Ishan, but it is fair to give Gill that run looking at how things have panned out in the last 8-9 months. He has done extremely well in that position.
