India vs Sri Lanka, 3rd T20I: Hosts eye clean sweep, No. 2 rank

Mumbai: With the series already in their pocket, India will look to give some of the bench players a chance but there will be no let-up in the intensity as they eye a complete whitewash against Sri Lanka in the third and final T20I here on Sunday, which will also push the hosts up to No. 2 in the ICC Rankings for T20Is.

For the islanders, it has been a forgetful year and the two recent defeats against India have just added to their misery.

While the hosts thrashed Sri Lanka by 93 runs in the first match at Cuttack, they outclassed them by 88 runs in Indore to seal the series. The visitors also lost the ODIs 1-2 and drew a blank in the Test series before that. 

On the other hand, India have been cruising across all formats and would surely look to end a successful year with another thumping win ahead of a tough tour of South Africa where they play three Tests, six ODIs and three T20s. 

The constant one-sided results may not be an ideal preparation for India for the coming tour, but the positive thing is that in absence of seniors, including inspirational captain Virat Kohli, the youngsters have taken responsibility and delivered in the T20Is and ODIs.

Stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma, who equalled David Miller's record of the fastest ever T20 century during his 43-ball 118 in Indore, is in peak form and he would love to continue his good run at his home ground. 

Be it KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey or the experienced campaigner Mahendra Singh Dhoni, all have chipped in when needed and coach Ravi Shastri would expect them to fire again on Sunday. 

India promoted Dhoni up the order on Friday and the former captain justified the team's decision by scoring at a brisk pace. The same can be expected in Mumbai if the openers give a flying start.

This Indian batting line-up can destroy any bowling attack and Sri Lanka's toothless bowlers just provide them more opportunity to be devastating and ruthless. The credit for preparing good bench strength should be given to the Indian Premier League and the robust domestic circuit.

Wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, who starred last night too, have cemented their place by picking up regular wickets after their international debuts. The selectors would be seeing how Saurashtra pacer Jaydev Unadkat performs, as he can be an important cog in the scheme of things after veteran pacer Ashish Nehra called it a day.

Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah have already cemented their place in the team and a good game for them will boost their confidence ahead of a gruelling tour. But having won the series, the team management may decide to play some young guns like Basil Thampi, Washington Sundar and Deepak Hooda.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka have been dealt a severe blow with Angelo Mathews ruled out due to a hamstring injury. In his absence, senior pros like Upul Tharanga will have to take responsibility and deliver. Kusal Perera's 37-ball 77 in the second T20I gave a huge boost to the team and he would look for another good innings.

Their bowlers too have failed to put up a spirited show and skipper Thisara Perera would like his men to at least give a fight and reverse the trend. All bowlers, including Nuwan Pradeep, Mathews and Thisara himself, have leaked plenty of runs and they need to pull up their socks to stop the Indian Juggernaut and come up with something special.

Overall, the Wankhede wicket has favoured the batsmen in the past but scores as high as 190 have been chased in T20 games here. Considering the form of Indian batsmen, spectators can see another run-feast.

An added incentive for India, if they win 3-0, will be No. 2 position in the ICC T20I Rankings.

India are at 119 points and a win will give them another point to equal West Indies and New Zealand at 120 on second position in the table. Pakistan lead the rankings with 124 points.