India will be taking on Sri Lanka in the opening T20I of the three-match series starting from today at the Wankhede. Hardik Pandya will be leading the forces for the Men in Blue while Suryakumar Yadav will be his deputy. The side that is all set to face the might of Sri Lanka is a fairly new looking Indian squad with the mainstays either being rested or out with injuries.
There were a few questions about the fact that will Hardik Pandya showcase a few sledging tactics to intimidate their counterparts and the Indian skipper made it very clear that the look of the Indian team is more than menacing to instil fear in the hearts of the opposition.
In the pre-match presser, Hardik said, “We are not looking to settle anything, just want to play good cricket. But yes I ensure they will feel that they are playing India in India. So we don’t need to go and sledge them, our body language is enough for them to feel intimidated, which we will do.”
He further added, “All the players who took the game away in Asia Cup are the ones I’m looking forward to stop.” Just to throw in a bit of context, India lost to Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup as the latter would eventually go onto lift the hallowed continental title drubbing Pakistan in the final.
India will be a part of three T20Is where Hardik will be holding onto the mantle while Rohit Sharma will be returning for the ODIs to spearhead the Indian contingency against their neighbours. Only time will reveal if India has the required firepower to stall the Lankan forces but this will definitely be an exciting phase for the Men in Blue considering the fact that there will be a lot of new names involved.
