India vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI Highlights: KL Rahul's 64* powers IND to series-clinching victory vs SL in Kolkata

After three quiet overs, Avishka Fernando has began the fourth over almost as if it's a fresh match. Three fours off the first three balls. Two beautiful flicks and one throwing the bat away kind of shot. The ball is flying now and worrying signs for India as the swing seems to have vanished.

Mohammed Shami's release of the ball is a beautiful sight - not for the batters of course as Nuwanidu is finding out right now. Gets beaten off consecutive balls - the second slightly fuller and even better that the first one. Squares up Avishka two balls later. Nuwanidu still batting on 0 off 8 balls. SL 9/0 after 3 overs  

Just a hint of outswing from Siraj in some highly encouraging signs but just not threatening enough. More like the ball is pitching and straightening up. A little room and Avishka pushes the ball through covers for a couple of runs. If I was Avishka, here's an advice: Look out for the ball that goes the other way. Can come anytime now. Two overs gone, SL 7/0.

Just five off the first over, including a boundary, for Sri Lanka. Barring that outside edge off the first ball, Shami has found his line, length and pace right away darting the ball in that dreaded corridor of uncertainty. Siraj comes racing from the other end.

An eventful start go the match. Mohammed Shami bowls it fast and squares up Avishka Fernando as the ball goes past second slip and into the boundary. SL off the mark with a boundary. Applause from Rohit from the cordon. He knows there was a chance there

Absolutely love this tradition where legends of the game signal the start of play, and today it's none other that Kumar Sangakkara, one of Sri Lanka and world cricket's greatest batters, and the one who took his team to the final of the 2011 World Cup. Alright then, the batters have made their way to the pitch. Mohammed Shami has the new ball.

A sloppy Sri Lanka were pretty abysmal on the field. They dropped Virat Kohli not once but twice - on 52 and 81 - and The King made them pay. You do not drop Kohli, let alone twice. The expressions on the face of Shanaka and coach Silverwood told the whole story. Sri Lanka would know that they need to get better on the field and cannot produce a repeat of Guwahati.

The toss is done, the team announcements are over with and not it's time for the curtains to finally lift. India look to seal yet another series but in front of them stand a defiant Sri Lanka, who, had it not been for some poor fielding, are trailing in the series and pushed on till the last moment in Guwahati. Dasun Shanaka waged a long battle - his unbeaten 100 means that Sri Lanka did not fold cheaply. SL levelled the series 1-1 in the T20Is. Can they do that here in the ODIs? Let's find out. First ball loading. 

Expect Gautam Gambhir to say things out of the ordinary, and he has stumped the viewers here again. Gambhir has shared a million-dollar advice to India speedster Umran Malik - 'Don't listen to the bowling coach'. The former India opener says Umran can be and will be expensive but that is given on how flat the pitches have gotten. However, as long as Umran is picking wickets with his thunderbolt - he is ticking a big box. It's only when the wickets column dries up is when it becomes a concern.

India's Playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, Mohammed Siraj

Sri Lanka's Playing XI: Kusal Mendis(w), Avishka Fernando, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Nuwanidu Fernando, Dasun Shanaka(c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dunith Wellalage, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha

Dasun Shanaka: We'll bat first. Very good wicket to bad first, also looking at the venue stats. Important to score, be relaxed and play our natural game. Two changes - Madushanka and Pathum Nissanka out (shoulder injury), Nuwanidu Fernando gets a debut and Lahiru Kumara is back.

Rohit Sharma: I was in two minds. Wanted to bat first because of how we played last time, but looking at this ground, I wanted to field. Overall, improvements are as a team, nothing in particular. What we've done in the past is in the past, we need to look ahead and keep doing better. I love playing here, the crowd is also energetic and that motivates me always. But it is in the past, I need to start fresh. One enforced change for us, Chahal in the last game put in a dive and hasn't recovered well today, so Kuldeep Yadav comes in.

Dasun Shanaka wins the toss and no surprises there - Sri Lanka will be batting first on this belter of a surface. Torn between what to do, Rohit says he doesn't mind losing the toss. One change for India - Kuldeep Yadav comes in for Yuzvendra Chahal who injured himself while putting a dive in the previous match.

Well, by the looks of it, we have come in from one run-filled surface to another. The Guwahati ODI saw almost 700 runs being scored and the one at the iconic Eden Gardens appear no different. Russell Arnold and Deep Dasgupta, who were presenting the pitch report… how they wish they'd got a chance to bat here, and not to forget with four fielders outside and with two new balls. 

If Sri Lanka win the second ODI against India at Kolkata, they will become just the fifth side in the format's history to win 400 games (Australia, India, Pakistan and West Indies); of all the teams to have won a minimum of 150 games in the format, Sri Lanka's win percentage is the least - 47.5. How impressive will that be. Can the reigning Asia Cup Champions? Well, it's surely doable.  

Kohli as at a stage in his career where every run he scores turns into a milestone. And this match is no exception. He is is 51 away to surpass MS Dhoni (2383 runs) and become the second most leading run scorer against Sri Lanka in the men's ODI format (Sachin Tendulkar – 3113 runs); by scoring a ton in his previous game, he became the batter to have scored most centuries against the Lions in the format (nine), surpassing Tendulkar's tally of eight hundreds.

Trailing 0-1 in the series, things have only gotten worse for Sri Lanka as injury cloud hands over Dilshan Madushanka. The debutant from first ODI who dismissed Rohit Sharma, is doubtful for this game after injuring his shoulder while fielding during the 1st game in Guwahati.

If you are a Virat Kohli fan, the new year 2023 couldn't have started on a better note. Kohli, who went almost three years without a single century, now has three in six months. He hammered a hundred against Bangladesh on December 10, 2022 and exactly a month later, peeled off his 45th ODI ton against Sri Lanka. Can Kohli make it a hat-trick of centuries? The last time he did so was back in 2018 against West Indies. And don't forget, it was at the Eden Gardens itself way back in 2009 where Kohli scored his maiden international 100, also against Sri Lanka.

The expressions on the faces of the Indian cricket fans was similar to that of the 70,000-odd crowd at the SuperDome when The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak ended the moment they got to know that Suryakumar Yadav was not included in their Playing XI. Baffling, right? How do you keep out a player who is coming off a century in the last game. Hello, surprises. Will there be more up Rohit Sharma's sleeve? Or will SKY return. Given the pattern, it is very likely that Surya sits this one out too.

It's the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, which can mean just one thing - It's Rohit Sharma's venue. It was at this very ground that nine years ago in 2014, Rohit scored a mammoth 264, the highest individual score in ODIs. At the Gardens, Rohit has amassed 569 runs from 8 matches at an average of 71.12. Besides, India have not lost a match at the bastion since 2017.

Sri Lanka Squad: Kusal Mendis (wk), Dasun Shanaka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka, Maheesh Theekshana, Lahiru Kumara, Ashen Bandara, Nuwanidu Fernando, Pramod Madushan, Jeffrey Vandersay, Sadeera Samarawickrama

India Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (wk), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Umran Malik, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Suryakumar Yadav, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Arshdeep Singh

India's top-order is looking in good touch as openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill and No.3 Virat Kohli contributed well in the series opener. With fresh talent and young blood in the side, the bowling attack is packing a punch for the visitors. The likes of Umran Malik and Axar Patel have solved many problems for the India skipper. Axar has done well to fill in the legacy of Ravindra Jadeja.

Hello and welcome to the second match between India and Sri Lanka. After a high-scoring match in Guwahati that produced nearly 700 runs, the action now shifts to the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The Rohit Sharma-led Indian side will look to seal the series while Dasun Shanaka's Sri Lanka will look to level the series.