India open to experimentation but not at cost of results

It's a tricky position to be in. With Bangladesh winning the Saturday (March 10) clash against Sri Lanka, all teams now start on level grounds. As much as India will want to win, they will love to - at some point in the series - hand opportunities to the untested ones on tour so far - KL Rahul, Deepak Hooda, Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj. But not at the cost of a win. On Sunday, when the Indian outfit combined at the nets facility of the R. Premadasa Stadium for an early morning practice session, the ones who haven't got a game on the tour so far, got the first chance.

Ravi Shastri stood close to the action, monitoring every move, and every time Hooda spanked the ball clean, the head coach bellowed, "Saabaash". Same when Siraj bent his back that extra bit to test the batsman with short deliveries. Axar had an extended session with the bat first before he came in to roll his arm over. Rahul was meticulous in his preparations too, taking turns at different nets for different kinds of bowling. Going purely by the mode of training, India might have made up their mind to field a couple of untried players, if not all, in the upcoming game against the hosts on Monday. But they will be wary after their opening loss to them.

Shikhar Dhawan has been on auto-pilot mode in the white-ball format of the game, and as much as India are rejoicing it, they would want other batsmen to step up too. Skipper Rohit Sharma's T20I form has deserted him for some time now, and the middle order - Suresh Raina, Rishabh Pant, Manish Pandey and Dinesh Karthik - though, has chipped in with brief contributions, they will be eager to pack a punch before Rahul or Hooda land their opportunity.

Sri Lanka's Kusals [Perera and Mendis] will once again be the ones to watch out for but taking Danushka Gunathilaka or Upul Tharanga lightly will only invite trouble. The four will have to step up in the absence of regular skipper Dinesh Chandimal, who will miss the game