IND vs. SL, 1st T20: Sri Lanka to Face Strong IPL Players; Preview & Predictions:

After dominating Sri Lanka in the ODI series India’s young brigade will look upon upcoming 3 match T20 series. Young emerging and strong IPL players from Indian side will be seen in the action from tomorrow.  First T20 will be played tomorrow that is on Sunday, 25^th July from 8 PM IST at the R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

After winning 3^rd ODI against India Sri Lanka will be confident enough for the T20 series as there is one more reason too for SL to take this seriously, upcoming ICC T20 Worldcup. Sri Lanka, by the way, haven't qualified for the T20 World Cup main draw yet. They need a top-two finish in the first round - where they are grouped alongside Ireland, Netherlands and Namibia - to enter the Super 12 stages.

As for India, they are bona-fide contenders for the title along with West Indies and England. This series will be the last chance for them to fine-tune their plans before the tournament. Chakravarthy, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devdutt Padikkal were the only three players from India's squad who didn't get a game in the preceding ODI series. While there are no real vacancies in the batting line-up, Chakravarthy could potentially make his first international appearance. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar are likely to slot back into the XI, having been rested among six changes on Friday.

Kasun Rajitha has been ruled out with injury while Hasaranga is likely to return to the team despite the short turnaround. If Hasaranga is fit, Jayawickrama will have to wait for his T20I debut. Sri Lanka might also consider bringing back Isuru Udana, who is more of a T20 specialist.

Predicted Playing XI:

India: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan/ Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Yuzi Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy

Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Minod Bhanuka (wk), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka (capt),  Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga/Praveen Jayawickrama, Isuru Udana, Dushmantha Chameera, Akila Dananjaya