Today at 13:30 GMT, or 8:30 a.m. ET India and Sri Lanka will meet again in a World T20 warm-up with the Indian team searching for vengeance after being topped by the Sri Lankans in the Asia Cup. The loss prevented India from reaching the championship game, and continued a downward trend for the historically powerful squad. Live stream the rivalry clash free here.
India has experienced losses in trips to South Africa and New Zealand, and looked out of sync for the majority of the Asia Cup. Their struggles have coincided with the retirement of legendary superstar Sachin Tendulkar in November of 2013, as MS Dhoni has had a difficult time replacing his leadership.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka's been on a roll that most recently saw them knock off Pakistan to win the Asia Cup. They're paced by batsman Kumar Sangakkara, who has intimated that he will walk away from T20 Internationals after this year's World T20s. "Ya, definitely without doubt this is my last World T20. I won't be playing any T20 Internationals after this. It's sad, but that's the truth," Sangakkara said.
"It's not the end of my T20 career though. I would like to play franchise-based T20s. Once your World Cup prospects are over you should give the next crop of players an opportunity. It's a natural progression."
Sangakkara expects to remain a factor in ODI play, though, and has his sights set on next year's World Cup. "Hopefully, I will be in form and my fitness stays and I am looking forward to it. There are so many ifs and buts in cricket. The 2015 World Cup is my immediate target. I will have a chat with the selectors to see where the future lies."
STARTING SQUADS:
INDIA: VR Aaron, R Ashwin, STR Binny, S Dhawan, MS Dhoni, RA Jadeja, V Kohli, B Kumar, A Mishra, Mohammed Shami, AM Rahane, SK Raina, MM Sharma, RG Sharma, Yuvraj Singh
SRI LANKA: LD Chandimal, TM Dilshan, HMRKB Herath, DPMD Jayawardene, KMDN Kulasekara, RAS Lakmal, SL Malinga, AD Mathews, BAW Mendis, MDKJ Perera, NLTC Perera, S Prasanna, KC Sangakkara†, SMSM Senanayake, HDRL Thirimanne
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