From a coaching perspective, this will be the start of Gautam Gambhir\u2019s coaching era for India, with Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate joining in as assistant coaches. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka have Sanath Jayasuriya as interim coach, as the hosts and India now focus on building a team for the 2026 T20 World Cup.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After electing to bowl first on a fresh pitch, Asalanka said, \u201cIt looks like a pretty good pitch and we want to see how it goes. We are going with a 6-5 (batters-bowlers) combination. I want to give every player a specific role and that\u2019s why we are going with five bowlers. You can expect more wins and more consistency.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Suryakumar said Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson and Khaleel Ahmed missed out on spots in India\u2019s playing eleven. \u201cIt (the pitch) looks good and is fine to bat first. The brand of cricket remains the same. The relationship me and him (Gambhir) have had for so many years is special. That (World Cup) is history, we start from scratch and it is a new challenge.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Playing XIs:<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Suryakumar said Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson and Khaleel Ahmed missed out on spots in India\u2019s playing eleven. \u201cIt (the pitch) looks good and is fine to bat first. The brand of cricket remains the same. The relationship me and him (Gambhir) have had for so many years is special. That (World Cup) is history, we start from scratch and it is a new challenge.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n