India vs Sri Lanka, 1st T20I: Shanaka invites Rohit to bat; Jadeja, Bumrah, Samson make comeback

Lucknow, Feb 24: Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss in the first Twenty20 International against India at the Atal Vihari Bajpayee International Stadium and invited Rohit Sharma to bat first on Thursday (February 24).

Team India - who were in action just three days back during the T20I series against West Indies - have made six changes to their playing eleven against Sri Lanka. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja - who has been out of action for quite some time due to injury - is making his comeback in this series. Wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson also makes his comeback in the game.

All-rounder Deepak Hooda was handed his debut T20I cap by captain Rohit and the Baroda cricketer will be manning India's middle-order in the game.

The hosts also miss their star batsman Suryakumar Yadav - who was the player of the series from the T20I series against WI. In Surya's absence, the team would be hoping for contributions from Shreyas Iyer, Samson, and Venkatesh Iyer in the middle-order.

Batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad complained of pain in his right wrist and he was unavailable for selection for the first T20I. The BCCI Medical Team is examining him.

Sri Lanka also had to make a couple of changes to their side. The visiting captain, Shanaka, after winning the toss, said, "We'll bowl, it's a very good pitch, we have been bowling well in the last few games, so backing our strengths. Have had a couple of days to recover. We have a couple of injuries - Chandimal and Vandersay are in, they replace Theekshana and Kusal Mendis."

"We were looking to chase as well, not sure how the pitches in India plays. But we now know we need to bat well, the last time we played here, about 4 years back, the pitch played well. Nothing changes as far as the goals of the team are concerned, need to do the right things as a team, need to keep ticking all the right boxes. It's a challenge for the new gutsy - from the last game we played, we have 6 changes. Ruturaj was supposed to play, but he has a wrist injury and will not play today," said Rohit.

Playing XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Charith Asalanka, Dinesh Chandimal(w), Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka(c), Chamika Karunaratne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara.