3 player battles to watch out for in India vs Sri Lanka, Super Fours, Match 4 of Asia Cup 2023
India will take on Sri Lanka in their second game of the Asia Cup Super Fours stage at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday, September 12. The Men in Blue completed a thumping win over Pakistan by 228 runs less than 24 hours ago and will be extremely high on confidence.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have been ravaged by injuries and will look to use home conditions to their advantage. They will bank a lot on their senior players to deliver against the mighty Indian team, who may think of rotating the squad a bit keeping in mind the workload management of playing on back-to-back days.
On that note, let's take a look at three player battles that could possibly decide the winner of the game:
#3 Sadeera Samarawickrama vs Kuldep Yadav
Sadeera Samarawickrama has arguably been Sri Lanka's best batter this Asia Cup and has already scored 150 runs in just three games so far. His 93 in the previous game against Bangladesh was crucial as it proved to be the difference between the two sides.
Samarawickrama has shown a very strong game against spin and that will make his match-up with Kuldeep Yadav interesting. The Indian spinner is just fresh off a fantastic five-wicket haul against Pakistan and will certainly test Samarawickrama's technique and temperament.
#2 Rohit Sharma vs Maheesh Theekshana
Maheesh Theekshana has been Dasun Shanaka's go-to bowler in the tournament so far as he has put his hand up in situations were Sri Lanka needed a saviour. He might operate with the new ball and will pose a challenge to Indian captain Rohit Sharma.
Rohit showed in the match against Pakistan that he wouldn't shy away from taking on the spinners just the way he plundered Shadab Khan. However, Theekshana is a clever operator and might do a bit of homework about Rohit's strengths and weaknesses. This makes it an extremely intriguing encounter to look forward to.
#1 Virat Kohli vs Matheesha Pathirana
Matheesha Pathirana has latched onto the opportunities that have come his way with injuries in the Sri Lankan camp, especially in the bowling department. The youngster impressed one and all in the IPL and has seamlessly brought that form into international cricket.
Pathirana would generally bowl in the middle overs and at the death and could face off against star Indian batter Virat Kohli. With a stunning 122* against Pakistan, Kohli would be even more hungry for runs and showed that he has the ability to accelerate once set. It will be interesting to see how the young Sri Lankan pacer holds his nerves when Kohli will be looking to up the ante.