India face Sri Lanka in a must-win Asia Cup 2022 game at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday. 

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl first. The island nation did not make any changes to their playing XI. However, in a surprise move, Team India made one change. They brought in experienced Ravichandran Ashwin in place of Ravi Bishnoi in the starting lineup.

Also Read:Suresh Raina retires: His 5 best knocks in Indian colours

This was an unexpected move since Ravi Bishnoi was India’s best in the defeat against Pakistan, finishing with the figures of 4-0-26-1. He had the best economy among all Indian bowlers. However, the youngster lacks the batting prowess that R Ashwin has. India is still looking for a replacement for Ravindra Jadeja, who will not be featuring anymore in the Asia Cup due to an injury.

One of the many reasons that R Ashwin is back in the squad is because of the SL batting lineup. They have very few left handers and the right-handed offspinner is better suited than Bishnoi in the matchup against them. This reason was reiteriated by Indian skipper Rohit Sharma after losing the toss. Moreover, R Ashwin is in the top 3 in ICC Test rankings for all rounders and even though this is a different format, he has made several knocks in the lower order as batter both while playing for India and for IPL franchises like Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. 

Also Read: Why Suresh Raina has retired from ‘all formats of cricket’

Before the match R Ashwin had said,” Any India Pakistan game is a high pressure game, but for me, looking from the outside, must say Pakistan played superbly and were deserved winners. We also had a fantastic game and it’s up to us to learn from where we went wrong, take the learnings and move on.”

The offspiner further added, “Playing for India doesn’t need motivation. You need to wait for the opportunity. There’s no guarantee of a result but for me I look at being best prepared stay upbeat and when the opportunity comes, do the best to my ability. Not a lot of world teams get an opportunity to play a tournament like this before the T20 World Cup. Lot of good teams in this one from Asia and we are looking at this as preparation for the knockout games later on.”

Also Read: Asia Cup 2022, India vs Pakistan: Mohammad Nawaz’s promotion the game-changer

India Playing XI:

KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh

Sri Lanka Playing XI:

Dasun Shanaka(c), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis(w), Charith Asalanka, Danushka Gunathilaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka