Asian Games 2026 – India bring in Vaibhav Sooryavanshi; Sri Lanka hand three debuts and field

Toss Sri Lanka chose to field vs India

Sri Lanka won the toss and put India in to bat in the second semi-final of the 2026 Asian Games men’s competition. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi found a spot in India’s XIs but not at the expense of either Sanju Samson or Abhishek Sharma as all three combined to form the top order. Samson has slotted in to bat at No. 3.

Arshdeep Singh did not find a spot as India decided to go with Shivam Dube as a seam-bowling allrounder, along with Axar Patel and Washington Sundar as spin-bowling allrounders. The two fingerspinners are joined by legspinner Ravi Bishnoi in a spin-heavy attack. Jasprit Bumrah is the only specialist fast bowler in the side.

Sri Lanka handed debuts to three players: wicketkeeper-batter Sohan de Livera, left-hand top-order batter Sineth Jayawardena, and left-arm spin-bowling allrounder Wanuja Sahan. They went in with two pacers, Binura Fernando and Chamika Karunaratne, and three spinners: Vijayakanth Viyaskanth (legspinner), Tharindu Ratnayake (ambidextrous fingerspinner), and their captain Sahan Arachchige (offspin-bowling allrounder).

Both teams’ quarter-finals were washed out, and they made the semi-final because of their superior ranking as compared to their opponents. The weather is good, but if this game ends without a result, India will progress to the final as they are the higher ranked team between the two.

India: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shreyas Iyer (capt), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah

Sri Lanka: Lasith Croospulle, Sineth Jayawardene, Sohan de Livera (wk), Ashen Bandara, Sahan Arachchige (capt), Nuwanidu Fernando, Chamika Karunaratne, Wanuja Sahan, Tharindu Rathnayake, Binura Fernando, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth

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