Nisshin: Teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and pace maestro Jasprit Bumrah returned as India fielded their full-strength available team after being asked to bat first in the semifinal against Sri Lanka at the Korogi Sports Park here on Thursday.
India made two changes to their Playing XI from the one-off T20I against Japan as Sooryavanshi and Bumrah returned, with Yash Thakur and Arshdeep Singh making way for them.
After missing the entire Afghanistan series and the one-off T20I against Japan in the build-up to the Asian Games, Sooryavanshi was back in the Playing XI and slated to open the innings alongside Abhishek Sharma. Sanju Samson was carded to bat at No.3, while India also didn’t drop Ishan Kishan, who is slated to bat at No.5.
India also brought in Bumrah after he was rested for the Japan T20I, as the Men in Blue fielded their full-strength team that is available, with only the injured Varun Chakravarthy and Harshit Rana not in the squad.
Sri Lanka have a largely second-string side with Sahan Arachchige leading the side, which has the likes of Chamika Karunaratne, Nuwanidu Fernando and Binura Fernando.
Both the teams enter into the semifinals with minimal game time as their quarterfinals were washed out due to rain in Nisshin. India were to face Afghanistan in the quarterfinals, while Sri Lanka were to lock horns against Nepal. However, incessant rains in the city washed the clashes out as India and Sri Lanka made it to the semis on virtue of being the higher-ranked teams than their opponents.
Playing XIs:
Sri Lanka Playing XI: Lasith Croospulle, Sineth Jayawardena, Sohan de Livera(w), Ashen Bandara, Sahan Arachchige(c), Nuwanidu Fernando, Chamika Karunaratne, Wanuja Sahan, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Tharindu Ratnayake, Binura Fernando
India Playing XI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah
(IANS)
