
Rohit Sharma-led India have locked horns with Sri Lanka in the second and penultimate ODI on Thursday (January 12), at the iconic Eden Gardens, Kolkata. At the coin toss, Dasun Shanaka once again called it right as the Islanders have opted to bat first in a bid to level the series after losing the opener by 67 runs in Guwahati.
As India will hope to restrict the Lankans for a low total, captain Rohit will also aim to surpass AB de Villiers in an elite list. Rohit needs 41 runs to surpass De Villiers in the list of most runs in men's ODIs. At present, Hitman has9,537 runs in 236 matches, including three double tons. He averages 48.90 with a strike rate of 89.64.
De Villiers, who announced a shocking internationalretirementin May 2018, ended his stellar run in ODIs with 9,577 runs at 53.50 and a strike rate of101.09. Not only de Villiers, Rohit can also overtakeAdam Gilchrist in this list. He needs 83 runs to move past the former keeper-batter's run-tally (9,619). Given Rohit loves batting at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, expecthim to come out all guns blazing in the second innings.
After losing the toss, Rohit said, "I was in two minds. Wanted to bat first because of how we played last time, but looking at this ground, I wanted to field. Overall, improvements are as a team, nothing in particular. What we've done in the past is in the past, we need to look ahead and keep doing better. I love playing here, the crowd is also energetic and that motivates me always. But it is in the past, I need to start fresh. One enforced change for us, Chahal in the last game put in a dive and hasn't recovered well today, so Kuldeep Yadav comes in."
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, Mohammed Siraj
Sri Lanka: Nuwanidu Fernando, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis(w), Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka(c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dunith Wellalage, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha