Already qualified for the Super 12s, Sri Lanka thrashed Netherlands by eight wickets in their final T20 World Cup first round match with the spin duo of Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana bamboozling the opposition batters here on Friday.
Sri Lanka registered a 35-run victory over Pakistan in the second T20I
"Now captaincy on the field can be a different thing. To read moments, win moments and strategize, you have to be sharp, and I think Hardik has all ingredients to be a good captain.
Rohit Sharma-led India's main aim would be to settle their middle-order combination and also find a perfect batting position for Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
GT (10 points from seven matches) have been a well-oiled unit and looks set for a successive play-off berth, sitting behind leaders Rajasthan Royals on net run-rate with a match in hand.
History is on Hardik Pandya's side, which has won all three games against the Royals so far, and that would certainly play on the minds of the Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan outfit at the Narendra Modi stadium.
West Indies, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka will enter the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 Qualifier high on confidence
The young pace bowling unit will look to pick up pieces from the hammering they suffered in the second T20 against Sri Lanka in the series-deciding third and final match in Rajkot on Saturday.
Gill will not like to repeat the mistakes of his predecessors while aiming to cement his place in the T20I side after making a reputation for himself in the longer versions.
The Sri Lankan cricket team, led by veteran pacer Lasith Malinga, arrived in Guwahati on Thursday for the three-match T20 series against India amid tight security after the city witnessed widespread protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The Sri Lankan team headed straight to the team hotel amid a thick security cover. The members of the Indian team are expected to arrive in batches on Friday for the series opener on Sunday.
Hardik Pandya will be expected to begin his full-time T20 captaincy tenure on a bold note as the Indian team prepares to start its life beyond Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.
Defending champions West Indies will be desperate to address their batting woes and keep their slim semi-final hopes alive when they take on an inexperienced Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup on Thursday.
A patient half-century by opening batsman Hashim Amla guided South Africa to a consolation 8-wicket victory over struggling Sri Lanka in the Group A encounter at New Delhi on Monday. Chasing a modest target of 121 runs, Amla scored 56 runs off 52 balls to help his team chase down the target with 14 balls remaining. Skipper Faf du Plessis also scored 32 runs off 36 balls, while AB de Villiers hit a brisk 20 off 12 balls.
Here is a factbox on the third and final Test between India and Sri Lanka beginning at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday:
After their emphatic victory against LSG, Mumbai Indians would be fancying their chances against defending champions Gujarat Titans in Friday's Qualifier 2 match.
Jadeja's impressive figures read 2/18 in four overs, including 12 dot balls, which Dhoni believes was instrumental in the changing the course of the game.
Former champions Mumbai Indians will have their task cut out when they host Gujarat Titans, who remain unbeaten on the road.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan (94) and KL Rahul (73) restored India's dominance with fluent half-centuries as the hosts erased a 122-run lead to nose ahead in the opening cricket Test against Sri Lanka, in Kolkata on Sunday.
Pakistan government pledged the same level of security to Sri Lankan cricketers as is provided to visiting heads of state.
The inaugural edition of the CSA T20 League is scheduled to be played in January-February 2023 and all the six franchises in the tournament have been acquired by current IPL team owners.
IMAGES from the T20 World Cup match played between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in Brisbane on Tuesday.
Deepak Chahar, India's unexpected hero with the bat in the second ODI against Sri Lanka, in Colombo on Tuesday, says coach Rahul Dravid's belief in his batting inspired him to produce a match-winning knock.
Sri Lanka trounced top-ranked Pakistan 3-0 after a 13-run victory in the third and final Twenty20, in front of 27,000 fans at the Gaddafi Stadium, in Lahore, on Wednesday. Needing 54 runs off the last five overs, with eight wickets in hand, Pakistan again stumbled in its run-chase for the third successive time in the series and were restricted to 134-6.
England seamers Sam Curran and David Willey shared nine wickets to set up a crushing eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka on Thursday as the hosts chased down 241 with seven overs to spare to go 2-0 up in the three-match one-day international series.
A century opening stand between Abid Ali and Fakhar Zaman guided Pakistan to a five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the third and final One-Day International in Karachi on Wednesday. The victory enabled the hosts clinch the series 2-0.
Captaining a young side could be tricky, but Hardik Pandya, who led India to a 2-1 series win over Asian champions Sri Lanka, feels it was not that difficult, as he just had to ensure that they "belong at this level".
England fast bowler James Anderson took five wickets to inspire the hosts to a crushing victory over Sri Lanka by an innings and 88 runs in the first Test in Leeds on Saturday.
Images from Asia Cup Super 4s match played between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in Sharjah on Saturday.
Sri Lanka will have to produce something special to halt England's juggernaut at Sharjah.
David Miller's late cameo saw South Africa stage a late comeback to outclass Sri Lanka by four wickets in the Super 12 match at the T20 World Cup at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Chasing 279 for victory, Sri Lanka overcame Woakes's triple strikes to reach 140-5 in 29 overs when heavy rain stopped play and England won the match under the scoring method governing such rain-marred matches.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni would be hoping for a memorable farewell but he faces a major roadblock in the form of Gujarat Titans' run machine Shubman Gill.
South Africa bowled poorly in the first hour, but still managed to reduce the visitors to 54 for three as Sri Lanka gave their wickets away with injudicious stroke-play.
Images from the Asia Cup final between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Dubai on Sunday.
For all those who are likely to get a game, there will be just one target -- to make most of their chances as some of them might not get too many with just about 16 months left for the 50-overs World Cup.
IMAGES from the 1st T20I played between India and Sri Lanka on Wednesday
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh can beat each other on their day
A livid India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday took a dig at the pitch prepared for the first T20 International terming it an "English" rather than Indian track. Indian batsmen were all at sea against the seam and bounce extracted by rookie Sri Lanka pacers to get all-out for 101 in 18.5 overs thereby losing the match by five wickets. "The wicket was completely different to what we have been playing in the last one month (in Australia). It was more like an English wicket. There was spongy bounce, and variable pace. The wicket was also not rolled properly. Looking at the wicket, we should not have played a few big shots that we played," Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony. Asked if it was difficult to adjust to the Indian conditions after playing a month in Australia, Dhoni's sarcastic reply was: "It was more English conditions than Indian conditions."
Captain Virat Kohli's blazing blade ensured a comfortable seven-wicket victory in the one-off Twenty20 International as the visitors completed a 9-0 rout of Sri Lanka across all three formats, in Colombo, on Wednesday.
Any other result than India's resounding win looks highly unlikely, consdering the visitors' rampaging run in the preceding Test and ODI series, where they whitewashed the hosts 3-0 and 5-0 respectively.
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