With India entering the Sri Lanka series as overwhelming favourites, former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer feels the spotlight will be on the star players, who failed to fire for the Men In Blue against Bangladesh. After defeating the Asia Cup holders in the T20Is, Team India will hope to record a famous double over Sri Lanka in the One Day International (ODI) series. Riding on Suryakumar Yadav's sensational century, Rohit-less India thrashed Sri Lanka in the T20I series decider on Saturday.
Showering praise on Suryakumar after his recent heroics against Sri Lanka at Rajkot, former Indian cricketer Jaffer picked the in-form batter over former vice-captain KL Rahul for the ODI series opener. Skipper Rohit, his ex-deputy Rahul and batting icon Virat Kohli are set to return to the Indian side after being rested for the T20I series against the visitors.
Rohit-led Team India will lock horns with Sri Lanka in the 1st ODI at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday. "The red-hot form that Suryakumar Yadav is in, I prefer him over KL Rahul for the first ODI. The focus will be on the Indian batters because they did not play well in the Bangladesh ODIs. The bowlers performed really well there," Jaffer told ESPN Cricinfo ahead of the ODI series opener.
Sharing his views ahead of the series opener, Jaffer also reserved special praise for middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer. The former Indian cricketer and full-time cricket pundit asserted that Iyer has been India's standout player. "Earlier, when the strength of the Indian team was the top three with Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli we usually saw centuries on a consistent basis from them. That has not been happening for quite a while now. If India want to go for scores like 280-300 or over 300, then the top 4 has to fire," Jaffer added.
{{/usCountry}}Sharing his views ahead of the series opener, Jaffer also reserved special praise for middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer. The former Indian cricketer and full-time cricket pundit asserted that Iyer has been India's standout player. "Earlier, when the strength of the Indian team was the top three with Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli we usually saw centuries on a consistent basis from them. That has not been happening for quite a while now. If India want to go for scores like 280-300 or over 300, then the top 4 has to fire," Jaffer added.
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