World Cup 2019: Ideal playing XI for India against Sri Lanka
India successfully sealed a spot in the semifinals by defeating Bangladesh by a 94-run margin and will now square off against Sri Lanka at Headingley, Leeds in match 44 of the ICC World Cup 2019 on 6th July.
This will be the final league match for India before the crucial knock out games. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are already out of contention for a spot in semifinals, and will be looking to end their World Cup campaign on a high note by winning this encounter.
India are currently in the second position on the points table while Sri Lanka are placed 6th. Team India have a chance of getting to number one position on points table if they win their match against Sri Lanka and South Africa claim a win over Australia.
India's middle order has been in indifferent form in the last few matches. The team management would need to sort out this issue before all-important semifinals. In the past few games, top order players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have built the perfect platform for the team in the games but the middle order has failed to capitalize and take advantage of such situations.
Rishabh Pant got off to decent starts in both matches he played but could not go on to make a big score. MS Dhoni's slow innings during finishing stages of the match against England was heavily criticized by many former cricketers. The veteran keeper will look to get back into some form during India's last league match.
India's bowling attack has been highly consistent in the tournament thus far. Their contributions have played an instrumental role in ensuring multiple victories for India. India played with 3 frontline seamers and just one spinner in the last games with Mohammed Shami impressing with 14 wickets from just four matches.
On the batting front, Rohit Sharma has led the way with 544 runs from seven matches at an average of 90.67, including four centuries and one fifty. Against Sri Lanka, Rohit can be banked to produce yet another spectacular knock.
For the game against Sri Lanka, India might give another chance for both Dinesh Karthik and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Ravindra Jadeja has been in contention for a spot a long time now but with the team in good form, the management might not want to make multiple changes to a winning combination before the semifinals.
Thus India will, in all likelihood, play with the same XI during the upcoming clash as there is no compelling need to change the current winning combination.
India's ideal XI
Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
Also read – World cup most wickets
Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on World cup points table, news, live scores, World Cup schedule, most runs, most wickets and fantasy tips.