Rohit eyes first series win as captain

Visakhapatnam, December 17

Rohit Sharma will aim to maintain his superb batting form and win his first series as captain when India take on Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
After a thumping seven-wicket loss against Sri Lanka in the first match, Rohit created history by becoming the first batsman to score a third double century in ODIs as India bounced back to win by 141 runs and level the series at 1-1.
If Sri Lanka pull off a win on Sunday, it will be their first bilateral ODI series win in India.
India, on the other hand, will aim to keep up their superb form at home that has seen them win every series since their defeat to South Africa in October 2015.
If India’s past record at this venue is anything to go by, they have an excellent chance to keep their excellent run going. The hosts have lost only one of the seven matches they have played at this ground and Sri Lanka will have to be at the top of their game to get past the Indians.
Placed second in the ODI rankings, India will look to Rohit to lead from the front and give the side a flying start. All eyes will be on fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan, who scored a brilliant half-century in the previous match to dominate the innings from the beginning.
One-down batsman Shreyas Iyer, who scored his maiden ODI half-century in the previous match, will only add strength to the formidable Indian batting line-up along with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey.
To lead the bowling attack, India would depend on Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah. Wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who bagged a three-wicket haul in the last match, will be the key in the middle overs to provide crucial breaks and stem the flow of runs.
For Sri Lanka, captain Thisara Perera will look to re-work his team’s strategies to help the visitors return to winning ways. Perera will also share the bowling responsibility with Angelo Mathews, Suranga Lakmal and Akila Dananjaya, who could not trouble the Indians in Mohali.
For the eighth ranked ODI side, batting will heavily rely on experienced campaigners Upul Tharanga and Angelo Mathews. Sri Lanka will also hope Danushka Gunathilaka, Niroshan Dickwella and Asela Gunaratne to get amongst runs.