Sri Lanka humiliates India on homeground in first ODI with India crumbling at 29-7
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DHARAMSALA: Sri Lanka captain Thisara Perera won the toss and elected to bowl in the first cricket ODI against India in Dharamsala on Sunday and his decision proved deadly right when SL seemers ripped through the Indian batting.
Shreyas Iyer made his ODI debut for India while Ajinkya Rahane did not figure in the playing eleven.
India’s first wicket fell for none, and their batting rattled badly and they were 29-7 before M.S. Dhoni came to bat and injected some spark to prevent his team from their worst total.
Scorecard via Cricinfo
Kohli was also missing from the last international fixture here — Test against Australia in March this year. His absence had obviously left the local fans dejected even though India won the Test under Ajinkya Rahane.
Sri Lanka skipper Thisara Perera won the toss and chose to bowl first in the opening one-day international against India in Dharamsala on Sunday.
The visitors, who lost the three-Test series 1-0 last week, are looking for a winning start in the first of the three ODI games.
“It looks like a good batting track. We want to chase. We want to do well,” said Perera, who replaced Upul Tharanga as captain last month.
Tharanga, who has had a superb run with the bat, remains in the XI with Asela Gunaratne added to bolster the batting. Allrounder Angelo Mathews is available to bowl after recovering from a calf injury.
India captain Rohit Sharma said that the hosts would have batted first even if they had won the toss.
“(The) sun is shining and it looks a good pitch. It is a good toss to lose,” Sharma said.
Sharma said it is an “honour” for him to lead the side in the absence of Virat Kohli, who has taken a break ahead of India’s all-important South Africa tour in January.
Mumbai batsman Shreyas Iyer has been handed his first ODI cap after playing just three Twenty20 internationals for India.
