I always asked him that. Even a couple days ago, I was asking him: ‘Can you come and play for us, you know, in this game?’ He’s been in absolute form.” Angelo Mathews had been speaking about the same and he also asked the same to the Kumar Sangakkara to reconsider his retirement and also said his comeback can save the team.
Tonight in the match between India and Sri Lanka we can think of Mathews and his response. But perhaps there some truth the each team is having. He couldn’t be blamed as he really delivers satisfied performance. It was the eve of Sri Lanka’s second match at the Champions Trophy against India. And Mathews & Co displayed their lengthy practice session at The Oval, Sangakkara’s home-ground which is touted as a summer game in England.
IND vs PAK Live Score 8th Match ICC Champions Trophy 2017
In this game, players turned to have some scoring centuries into a pastime and having notched to see — four on the trot has been taken. And can Sri Lanka do with Sangakkara to showcase their skill in the today match? If Pakistan, India’s first opponents look as relative unknowns, the Lankans are a team, not so much in transformation, as the team is in trouble right now. Their batting was out-of-depth when they compete with the team South Africa, and they also lost their stand-in captain.
The team Sri Lanka is somehow blessed with some most-seasoned batsman, like Upul Tharangaand Lasith Malinga but they somehow take the time to finish their over. Then, on Wednesday morning, Chamara Kapugedera, the second senior-most batsman in the side, somehow got injured his knee so it will consider thinking whether he can display his skill now or not. Kapugedera, who has made nearly as many comebacks have been managed to have a good measure managed all of 0 runs against the Proteas.
And perhaps the only reason Mathews was not presented in the opening game with a calf injury, is playing is because he has no other choice. But in this Thursday match, we are unable to take the team Sri Lankans as an understatement as they are also worth.
The Indian team is also ready to fight with the team Sri Lanka and India will be competing with Lanka with full glory!
Greenish touch
There was a greenish touch to the pitch at the Oval. In years gone by, we are having some signals from Indian dressing-room. But it was the opposition who also managed to look bold while delivering the job of their team, with a number of players from the Sri Lanka team are coming at the center of the Oval so there match will be yet to see at the day’s time.
India will most probably stick to their series of four-prong pace attack once again, leaving R Ashwin on the bench, and now the team India is having a good reason!
The Indians is also look tension free on venturing towards the pitch. They walked straight to the practice wickets on the right corner of the Tension Terrace and they remain stand at the game. It was also around the time the organisers were testing the sound systems around the Oval. In this match between Virat Kohli & Co the match for India is also matters.
In this match between India and Sri Lanka weather is also matter as if the weather will be dry then the match will turn to be good as the practice session of the match was really good. But whether this time the match can be able to pull crowd or not it will be yet to see as it is the Thursday is also an Election Day in England.
In this match, the match between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn is also a matter. So it’s unlikely that the India-Sri Lanka match will attract too many neutrals at the ground. But the feeling won’t be neutral for Mathews and his young team.
The Sri Lankan captain sounded very chill this time in the match. He admitted that after years of having played against Indian teams this time the match can look as a “fantastic” bowling attack too. He did try to play down the impact of the partisan and the Oval saying that the match in London will be an interesting one!
In years gone by, Sri Lankan teams somehow always proved their worth in ICC event regardless of their form outside of the event. But it seems a tall order now, considering their poor performance to see they are just perfect in their league.
And Mathews couldn’t help but reiterate in the end how tempted he is to get Sangakkara back on board, so the match will be yet to see!
Team News
India: India is unlike to change their combination that the match won against Pakistan. The Oval offers a pitch, and conditions, not too dissimilar from the Edgbaston pitch. There is no evident injury concern, and so in all likelihood, can’t be big change any.
Probable XI:
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav
Sri Lanka: Mathews is back and he is worth and fit as a batsman. A suspension leaves Upul Tharanga out of group while Chamara Kapugedera has been ruled out of the tournament as he is suffering from the knee injury while practicing a day before the game. Sri Lanka will also be mindful of their over-rate which has cost Tharanga, he was the captain in their previous game, dear. But that factor shouldn’t hamper as per the combination concerns.
Probable XI:
Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Perera, Asela Gunaratne, Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Pradeep.
When: June 8, 2017, at 10:30 AM Local Time
Where: The Oval, London
Match Prediction:
India: 60%
Sri Lanka: 40%
Who will won the match 🙂 🙂
