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India and Sri Lanka will meet in match no. 33 of the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup on Thursday.
India have been the standout team at the World Cup, living up to their pre-tournament favourites' hype. Despite winning all six of their group games, Rohit Sharma & Co. are not yet guaranteed a semi-final berth, albeit it would take a extraordinary set of circumstances to deny them.
The hosts will look to get the job done against Sri Lanka in Mumbai in front of another raucous crowd this Thursday.
The Lankan Lions, meanwhile, come into this match on the back of a crushing seven-wicket defeat to Afghanistan in their previous match. They have won only two of their six games so far in this tournament, against Netherlands and England, respectively and will face an uphill challenge against India.
The game, which will be the seventh for both in the tournament, is set to be a nail-biting watch, and here are all the details on how you can watch it...
When is India vs Sri Lanka in the 2023 Cricket World Cup?
The game takes place on November 2 at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, a venue Indian fans remember fondly, having seen their team lift the 2011 World Cup after beating Sri Lanka in the final.
The teams are, of course, slightly different from then, with Sri Lankan cricket seeing a sharp decline in recent times. Nevertheless, the 33,000-seater stadium is expected to be packed to the brim to watch some of the world's most in-form players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah.
The Indian team will of course be favorites, so a win for Sri Lanka would be quite a surprise. The game will be getting underway at 4:30 am ET (1:30 am PT).
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How can you watch the India vs Sri Lanka live match in the Cricket World Cup?
The ICC Cricket World Cup will be exclusively broadcast on Willow TV and ESPN+ in the USA, meaning you'll need to subscribe to either if you want to watch the match. There are a number of ways in which you can find live streaming for Willow TV and ESPN, with them not only available through their apps but the likes of SlingTV, DirecTV, and DISH too.
Both ESPN+ and Willow TV are priced at $9.99 per month, giving you access to India vs Pakistan and the rest of the tournament.
India vs Sri Lanka: Team News & Predicted XI
India will remain without the services of all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who remains available for selection as he has still not recovered from his ankle injury.
The hosts' are likely to stick to the same XI that they have put out in the last two matches with Suryakumar Yadav filling in at No. 6 for the injured Pandya, and in-form Mohammed Shami will continue being the third seamer in the playing XI.
As for Sri Lanka, injuries and unavailability of key players have also ravaged the team from the island nation, and will rely on a fairly young XI to compete against a high quality opponent. Dusan Shanaka has been ruled out of the tournament, replaced by Chamika Karunaratne. Slingy fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana is also a major doubt with a shoulder injury.
As if the above absences weren't bad enough, in-form quick Lahiru Kumara has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament after hurting his left thigh during training in Pune ahead of Sri Lanka's defeat against Afghanistan on Monday. He has been replaced in the squad by fellow pacer Dushmantha Chameera, who could come straight into the mix here.
India (IND): Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj
Sri Lanka (SL): Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis (c), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Dushmantha Chameera, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, and Dilshan Madushanka
India vs Sri Lanka head-to-head
The two teams have already played 167 ODI matches against each other and the record suggests that India have been quite dominant. The Men in Blue have racked up 98 wins, whereas the Lankan Lions have come out on top on 57 occasions.
India vs Sri Lanka players to watch
Having scored 479 runs in his last eight games, Indian skipper and opening batsman Rohit Sharma has been at his dominant best as of late and is one of the most consistent run-getters for the Men in Blue. He also enjoys facing the Sri Lankans, notably scoring a whopping 264 runs at Eden Garden back in 2014, the highest individual score in one-day international (ODI) cricket.
Jasprit Bumrah has understandably been the face of India's dangerous bowling attack throughout the tournament, but the Men in Blue's thumping of England was undoubtedly the Mohammed Shami show. That underrated right arm fast bowler, who has picked nine wickets in two games so far at the tournament, has added further incision and wicket-taking ability in the Indian bowling attack.
It's fair to say injuries to key players have well-and-truly derailed Sri Lanka's ongoing WC campaign. The team looks downbeat currently, but as one of the old guards of Sri Lankan cricket, Angelo Mathews could come in handy to help his team spark a turnaround. He is someone who has the caliber and experience to contribute both with the bat and the ball, so expect him to deliver the goods here.
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India vs Sri Lanka FAQs
When was the last time the pair met at a Cricket World Cup?
Both teams met against each other in match 44 of the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England. The game was played at Headingly Carnegie in Leeds, with India securing an emphatic seven-wicket victory. The Indians were in imperial form with the bat, with Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul both hitting centuries to make a 265 run chase look easy.
Where is the Cricket World Cup taking place this year?
The ICC Cricket World Cup will return to India for the first time since 2011, when the nation shared hosting duties with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. That was also the last time the nation won the tournament, with the hosts winning the World Cup every tournament since then.
The competition will run from October 5 to November 19, with the final being staged in Ahmedabad.
How many times have India and Sri Lanka won the World Cup?
Both nations have won the Cricket World Cup, with India having lifted it twice and Sri Lanka once. India have won the tournament more recently, doing so in 2011 and prior to that in 1983. Sri Lanka's only success came in 1996.
