SL vs IND 2021: [In Pictures] Team India sweat it out in intra-squad practice game in Colombo
The Indian team were seen involved in an intra-squad practice game for the second consecutive day in Colombo ahead of their limited-overs series against Sri Lanka.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a series of pictures where the likes of Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya and other Indian players were seen getting some much-needed match practice under their belt. The BCCI shared the snaps from their official Twitter handle.
You can watch the short highlights of the game here:
The young Indian players will be looking to impress in the upcoming three-match ODI and three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. Shikhar Dhawan has been named captain of the side while Bhuvneshwar Kumar is his deputy.
Despite India fielding a much changed side, many see them as favorites to clean sweep Sri Lanka, given the latter's poor run of form in recent times. The Lankans will head into the series on the back of a disappointing limited-overs tour of England. The visitors lost the three-match T20Is series 3-0 before losing the ODI series by a 2-0 margin, with the third game being washed out.
India vs Sri Lanka head-to-head record in white-ball cricket
Team India have a superior head-to-head record against their Asian counterparts in ODIs, winnings 91 games in comparison to Sri Lanka's 56. While 11 matches have ended in no results, the two teams have played one tied encounter.
The last time India lost a bilateral ODI series against Sri Lanka was way back in 1997 when they were whitewashed 3-0. However, the Men in Blue have been a dominant force in white-ball cricket since the turn of the century.
In the last 10 ODI encounters between the two sides, Sri Lanka have won only twice, with India emerging victorious eight times.
Even in the T20I format, Team India rule the roost, winning 13 games to Sri Lanka's five, while one game ended with no result.
Sri Lanka vs India limited-over series schedule:
ODI series:
- First ODI: July 13
- Second ODI: July 16
- Third ODI: July 18
T20I series:
- First T20I: July 21
- Second T20I: July 23
- Third T20I: July 25