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In the highly anticipated Asia Cup 2023 final, Sri Lanka’s captain, Dasun Shanaka, has won the toss and decided to bat first against India at Colombo’s R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday. The match is delayed due to the rain.
India is fielding its regular team with the exception of the injured Axar Patel, who has been replaced by Washington Sundar.
SL captain Dasun Shanaka, speaking at the toss, stated, “We’ll bat first. The pitch seems good, and there will likely be some turn in the afternoon. Last year, we couldn’t have such crowds, but this time we are fortunate. I’m pleased with the young talents – Wellalage, Pathirana, Samarawickrama. It’s a strong team, and the results reflect that; this is a great boost for the World Cup. We have one change – Theekshana is out, and Hemantha is in.”
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India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, remarked, “We would have chosen to bat first as well; it looks like a dry pitch. We are confident in our ability to chase down whatever total Sri Lanka sets. This is an opportunity to be aggressive with our bowling and assess the pitch conditions. We came close in the last game; any score above 240 on this surface is competitive. Today, our focus is to perform well with the ball and then see how we can approach the batting. The crowd has been fantastic, offering strong support for both teams, with perhaps a bit more for Sri Lanka. Hopefully, they witness an exciting final. Everyone is back after the last game’s rest, but Axar is injured, so Washington Sundar takes his place.”