Asia Cup, 2nd ODI: Sri Lanka ask India to bat first
Sri Lanka have won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in the second ODI of the Asia Cup in Dhaka.
- ESPNcricinfo staff
- Updated: March 13, 2012 01:47 PM IST
For the second match in succession, the captain winning the toss at the Shere Bangla Stadium opted to bowl first, with the pitch having a greater covering of grass today than for the opening match. Mahela Jayawardene, who called correctly, reckoned the ball would come on to the bat a lot better under lights.
Sri Lanka made a couple of changes to the line-up from the CB Series in Australia, bringing in the fast bowler Suranga Lakmal and the legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna. The notable omission was the fast bowler Lasith Malinga, who wasn't at peak fitness for the third final of the CB Series. Malinga also got a hammering from Virat Kohli in Hobart, where India chased down 321 in less than 40 overs to keep their chances of qualifying for the final of that series alive.
Lakmal returned from an injury lay-off to replace Malinga, while Prasanna was included for Rangana Herath, who has been rested for the tournament.
There was no place for the big-hitting Yusuf Pathan, as India chose to go with their first-choice line-up from the CB Series.
India: Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Irfan Pathan, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar
Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Kapugedera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Farveez Maharoof, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Seekkuge Prasanna