Sri Lanka finally registered their first win on their tour of Australia to avoid the whitewash. Although they lost the series 4-1, they will now be flying to India with their heads held high for a long tour that spans across formats. The tour will begin with a T20I series, which both sides will be taking as a preparatory series for the T20 World Cup that is to be played in Australia later this year. India too had a terrific run against West Indies as they found solutions to most of the questions before that series started. They would want to continue giving an extended run to some of their youngsters and they have already made their intentions clear by the team they have picked for the series. Having said that, they are not going to hold anything back either. The first match of the series is to be played at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on the evening of 24th February 2022. INDIA VS SRI LANKA TEAM PREVIEWS INDIA Despite KL Rahul not being available, India allowed Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant to rest for this series and that speaks volumes about the chances that India wants to provide to their youngsters before the marquee event. We also see Jasprit Bumrah back in the side and his presence will certainly strengthen the bowling attack, which although did very well in his absence against the Windies. Apart from the changes mentioned above, India would be looking to give Ruturaj Gaikwad an extended run in a bid to find a backup opener. Ishan Kishan didn’t look as fluent as he can be in the chances he got against the Windies and we might well see him sitting out in the first match with Sanju Samson available as a wicket-keeper batsman. SRI LANKA Sri Lanka showed plenty of vulnerabilities in their series against Australia but they also did a remarkable job to plug that one by one as the series progressed. The result of their effort was evident in the last match as they toppled the hosts by an extremely good margin. Having said that, they still have plenty to fix and this series against India can prove to be a better test of their ability and character. The Islanders were poor with the bat right throughout the series and had it not been for some excellent batting by Kusal Mendis and Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka would have lost the last match as well. They lacked temperament on most occasions and ended up throwing wickets away in relatively easy situations. On the bowling front, however, Sri Lanka was terrific and will want to continue building on the firepower they already have. INDIA VS SRI LANKA, 1ST T20I MATCH DETAILS: Match: India vs Sri Lanka, 1st of 3 T20Is. Date: 24th February 2022. Time: 7:00 PM IST. Venue: Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. INDIA VS SRI LANKA, 1ST T20I PITCH REPORT The surface at the Ekana Cricket Stadium is a good cricketing surface. The track is expected to assist the batters, who can play their shots post a careful initial passage of play. The spinners need to provide their team with timely breakthroughs. Teams will look to win the toss and chase on this surface as the dew factor comes into consideration in the second half of the game. INDIA VS SRI LANKA, 1ST T20I WEATHER REPORT Partly cloudy skies are expected to be a feature of matchday. The temperature is expected to range between 16 and 29 degrees Celsius. No rain is expected throughout the day. INDIA VS SRI LANKA MATCH PREDICTION India is a quality side and is as good as unbeatable at home. India has quite a few match-winners in their ranks. India is the favorite to finish on top in this encounter. Sri Lanka will not be push-overs and will be expected to put up a tough fight against a slightly depleted Indian playing XI.