India take on Sri Lanka in a crucial Asia Cup Super 4 encounter in Dubai on Tuesday and Rohit Sharma has made one crucial change in the playing XI with the seasoned Ravichandran Ashwin replacing young leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi. Ashwin has a tremendous record against left-handers and the Sri Lankans have quite a few southpaws in their team.
It is a must-win encounter for India after losing their match against Pakistan on Sunday. Captain Rohit Sharma lost the toss and had this to say about the decision to include Ashwin in the playing XI.
"With the dew, we need to learn the lines, the lengths and the boundaries well. The grass is lesser tonight. It looks drier, and we have one change on the basis of the Sri Lankan team: Ashwin comes in for Bishnoi," Rohit said.
Rohit said that he would have also wanted to bat first and also said that the format of the Asia Cup is helping the team prepare for the T20 World Cup.
"We would have bowled first as well. The pitch doesn't change too much just gets better to bat later. We batted pretty well in the last game, fell little short. It gives us a opportunity to come out and do well.
"This is how the WC will be played and we need to get into mindset to get under pressure. Can't lose to afford many games," the Indian captain said.
Speaking about the loss against Pakistan Rohit said that tight games like these helps the team learn a lot.
"It was a tight game, games like this will help us learn a lot more. We got to learn a lot more when you are defending a score like that. Another opportunity to do that and get it right. Same pitch The grass is a bit less, looks slightly drier," Rohit Sharma said.