Daijiworld Media Network

Kingston, Jul 2: Hello and welcome everyone. The big news first up is that Virat Kohli will be leading the Indians full time in the absence of Dhoni. Rayudu has been roped in as a replacement. Murali Vijay, who is in the squad, is expected to make the playing eleven. Sri Lanka are coming in on the back of a loss too and both teams will be eager to get a win on the board soon.

India have won the toss and elected to field.

Mathews: 'I would have bowled first. It (the pitch) does look a little damp. It's not going to be easy. The batters have a big challenge here. It's important that we win. We have not played well against India. The boys want to do well.'

Kohli: 'We are going to bowl first. As I said after the last game, the wicket behaved differently in the 2nd half. It is a proud moment for me. I just wanted to play the game and now I get to lead the side. I'm grateful to the team and the panel to find me worthy. The pressure is always there. We just want to focus on the basics. Shami Ahmed comes in for Bhuvneshwar Kumar.'

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shami Ahmed, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Upul Tharanga, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara(w), Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews(c), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kushal Janith Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga

It will be interesting to see where Murali Vijay slots in given the reasonable success that Rohit Sharma has had as an opener.

For Sri Lanka, both Jeevan and Ajantha Mendis are out. Kusal Perera and Senanayake are in. News coming in is that Shami Ahmed replaces Bhuvneshwar Kumar and as expected Vijay is in too.

Pitch report: 'The cracks are not too wide. There is a bit of moisture because of some overnight rain. Win toss and bowl,' says Jeff Dujon.

Match Preview

India will take on Sri Lanka for the 142nd time in ODIs when the two sides clash in the third game of the tri-series on Tuesday in Jamaica. India have won 76 while Sri Lanka have only won 53 of those games, while one produced a tie and 11 gave no results. These numbers are enough proof of how often the two nations have met on the cricket field and often India has dominated its sub-continental neighbour.

However, this game is important in the context of the tournament. After both sides were subjected to opening defeats by West Indies, they will need to notch up the first points to stay in contention for the final.

India

Team News: In a major set back, Dhoni was ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing tri-nation ODI series due to a hamstring injury, prompting the BCCI to appoint Virat Kohli as the stand-in skipper. Batsman Ambati Rayudu will be flown in as Dhoni's replacement.

Exactly a week after defeating England in a thrilling final to lift the Champions Trophy, India were involved in yet another thriller but this time, they ended up on the losing side. The batsmen failed to get going on a sluggish pitch and only a half-century by Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina's 44 helped India to a respectable score.

In a short tournament, getting those first points is always crucial and India would be ruing their missed chance. After all, it was only a one-wicket defeat and the game could have gone either way, had it not been for a gutsy show by Kemar Roach with the bat towards the end. India missed MS Dhoni's captaincy while they fielded after he suffered cramps while batting and Virat Kohli admitted as much. They now meet Sri Lanka, a team they have dominated for a while now. The two sides had clashed in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy and India were the far better side. Like Sharma enjoys batting against the Windies, Kohli feasts on the Lankan bowling.

That is not to say, it would be an easy ride. Sri Lanka have some class players in their ranks. With West Indies almost assured of a spot in the final, it will eventually come down to a tug of war between India and Sri Lanka - thus the game on Tuesday assumes greater significance.

Key Players: Shikhar Dhawan fell for 11 in India's opening game but his brilliant form in England will still make him a dangerous player. The left-handed opener is key to India's chances and a solid start by him can hamper a lot of plans for the opposition. Rohit Sharma seems to have turned a fresh leaf with another half-century on Sunday, his third in the last six games. With the openers in good form and a strong middle-order, India have to be the favourites. Also, do not forget Umesh Yadav's three-wicket haul. He continues to be a good strike option.

Weak link: It's not an individual player that happens to worry India. Their problem starts when the openers fall cheaply. On Sunday, Dhawan was done in early and the rest of the batting stuttered too. Much like the final in England last week, when Rohit Sharma got out early and then followed a procession which was only halted by a Kohli-Jadeja stand that took India to healthy ground.

Sri Lanka

Team News: With just two victories in their last five games, Sri Lanka have hardly done any justice to their collective talent. Yes, they qualified for the semi-final in the Champions Trophy but were blown apart against India, a team against which they seem to have some mental hurdles. A lot of the Lankans are key performers in the IPL for their respective teams and known their Indian counterparts fairly well but somehow struggle against them in international cricket.

However, Angelo Mathews would be keen to lead a revival against the Indians come Tuesday. They are already without Dilshan which means Jayawardene, Sangakkara and the skipper himself will have to assume more responsibilities with the bat. It would be some of the younger players they would be worried about. A crushing defeat against the West Indies would have already demoralised the team and now with the India tie looming large, the senior pros will have to lead by example.

Key Players: Mahela Jayawardene made batting look easy on a tricky pitch. His half-century against West Indies was yet another reminder of his class - he compiled runs with grace when the other Lankan batsmen even failed to put bat to ball. Assigned to open the batting in Dilshan's absence, Jayawardene will be the most important player for Sri Lanka. Kumar Sangakkara was in brilliant form in the Champions Trophy and if he could replicate some of it in West Indies, Sri Lanka would be a very difficult team to play against. Mathews would be hoping that his two most senior batsmen live up to their reputation on Tuesday.

Weak links: There's no doubt that the Sri Lankans have some very talented bowlers but their attack does not seem to be able to make the most of the conditions. Against India in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy, they were hardly able to trouble their batsmen despite seamer friendly conditions. Malinga and Kulasekara have been champion performers for their country and they would need to step up yet again, when they take on the world champions.