The 1st T20 match of the Sri Lanka tour of India, 2023 is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, 3rd January 2023 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

Team India is heading into a new era and they had dropped its experienced and key players for this series. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul had been dropped from the team for this series. Rishab Pant had an accident and we don’t think that he will available for team India for a few months. In this case, Hardik Pandya is going to lead team India for a long time and SK Yadav will work as his deputy. The management of India had picked the best all-rounders that had been good in domestic cricket. Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Rahul Tripathi are the leading batsmen in team India squad.

Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, and Sanju Samson are also available in the squad of team India. Hardik Pandya bats well in the middle overs and he is also used as a full-time bowler, especially in the middle and lower overs. It shows that India has six regular batsmen for this match. This is a quality batting order and if they bat first in this match, we are sure that they will put a big total on the board. India also has a strong bowling unit and they have four bowling options. Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, and Arshdeep Singh are the bowlers of India in this series. Arshdeep Singh had just been outstanding in the recent matches while Yuzvendra Chahal did not play many matches for India. This is a bowling unit that can defend the target of 170-plus runs.

Sri Lanka struggled in some previous years but now they are a well-settled team and they showed their strength in the recent edition of the Asia Cup. Wanindu Hasaranga and Pathum Nissanka are two young players that had been very impressive for Sri Lanka in the most recent series. Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Kusal Mendis, and Dasun Shanka are other players that had made a good impact on this team. Sri Lanka is a strong opposition and it is not easy for India to beat this team even in their home conditions. Avishka Fernando is back in the squad of Sri Lanka and his presence had made the batting order very strong but we don’t think that he will be part of the final playing eleven for this match.

The batting order of Sri Lanka is very strong. Chamika Karunaratne, Charith Asalanka, and Dhananjaya de Silva are the leading batsmen in Sri Lanka for this tour of India. Sri Lanka had faced some issues in the bowling unit and we think that things will remain the same in this tour. Wanindu Hasaranga is the experienced spin bowler in their squad and we think that he will perform well in the conditions of India. Pramod Madushan, Lahiru Kumara, and Maheesh Theekshana are key bowlers in their squad. Lahiru Kumara is another experienced bowler and he had played a lot of matches in India. We are expecting that he will be the highest wicket-taker in this match. Nuwan Thushara, Kasun Rajitha, and Ashen Bandara new addition in Sri Lankan team with Dunith Wellage. If Sri Lanka holds its nerves in this match, they can surprise their fans and the result can be in their favor.

India had played a total of 193 T20 matches where they won 126 matches and opposing teams won 61 matches. Their 5 matches ended with no result.

Sri Lanka had played a total of 173 T20 matches so far. They won 79 while other teams won 92 matches. 2 matches of Sri Lanka ended with no result.

India played 26 T20 matches against Sri Lanka where they won 17 matches and Sri Lanka won 7 matches. Just one match between Sri Lanka and India came without any result.

According to match prediction, India is the favorite team to win this match. The reasons why India is a favorite team in this match, are mentioned below:

• India has a decent record while playing against Sri Lanka
• India has strong batting and bowling units
• India has the advantages of home crowd and ground
• Sri Lanka is also a strong team and can beat India
• India has a lot of youngsters who are not much experienced

India is overall a strong and experienced team when we compare it with Sri Lanka. They have strong batting order and bowling unit, so the winning chances of India for today’s match have been increased. The equation of winning the chances of both teams for today’s match is mentioned as under.

India has a 70% chance to win this match
Sri Lanka has a 30% chance to win this match

The toss is going to play an important role in the decision of each and every match of this series. According to our toss prediction, the team who will win the toss may elect to field first.

The 1st T20 match of the Sri Lanka tour of India is going to be held at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. The pitch at this stadium is excellent for batting. The boundaries at this venue are short and will bring the spinners into play. The pitch will continue to be good for batting throughout the match. The pitch on this venue is good for batting. It also has a bit of help for the spin bowlers. As per the live cricket score, a total of 190 runs should be a par score.

The weather forecast in Mumbai on match day is good. There are almost no chances of rain and we may have a full match to watch.

India: Ishan Kishan (WK), Ruturaj Gaikwad/Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya (C), Washington Sundar, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (WK), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka (C), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Lahiru Kumara, Pramod Madushan/Dilshan Madushanka.

Captain: SK Yadav
Vice-Captain: Pathum Nissanka
Kusal Mendis, B Rajapaksa, Shubhman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, W Hasaranga, Arshdeep Singh, P Madushan, Maheesh Theekshana

Date: Tuesday, 3rd January 2023
Time: 01:30 PM GMT / 07:00 PM LOCAL / 06:30 AM IST

• Stadium: Wankhede Stadium
• Location: Mumbai, India
• Opened: 1974
• Capacity: 33,000
• Ends: Garware Pavilion End, Tata End
• Time Zone: UTC +05:30
• Home to: Mumbai
• Floodlights: Yes
• Curator: Sudhir Naik

• Total matches: 7
• Matches won batting first: 2
• Matches won bowling first: 5
• Average 1st Inns scores: 194
• Average 2nd Inns scores: 182
• Highest total recorded: 240/3 (20 Ov) by IND vs WI
• The lowest total recorded: 172/10 (20 Ov) by AFG vs RSA
• The highest score chased: 230/8 (19.4 Ov) by ENG vs RSA
• The lowest score defended: 209/5 (20 Ov) by RSA vs AFG

Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Rahul Tripathi, Mukesh Kumar, Shubman Gill, Shivam Mavi.