The Men in Blue are eager to seal the series with a win this contest, while the Islanders are desperate to bounce back and set up a thrilling decider in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
India have a long tail with allrounder Axar Patel coming in at No. 7 with the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Hardik Pandya batting ahead of him in the middle-order.
Eden Gardens could witness some dew in the evening, with the temperature likely to be dropping to 15 degrees after 6 pm IST.
India captain Rohit Sharma promised before the ODI series that there wouldn’t be a lot of chopping and changing through the series and the starting XI members will be given a long run. However, for Thursday’s game, the home team was forced to make a change in their playing XI.
In place of right-arm leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, left-arm unorthodox spin bowler Kuldeep Yadav is playing for India in the second ODI.
Speaking to cricketer-turned-commentator Murali Kartik at the toss, India skipper Rohit revealed why Kuldeep came in for Chahal. “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,” the 35-year-old said.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) tweeted out the real reason behind Chahal’s unavailability for the second ODI. “Yuzvendra Chahal was unavailable for selection in the 2nd ODI due to a sore right shoulder,” they wrote.
As far as the changes in the Sri Lankan team is concerned, in place of opening batter Pathum Nissanka and fast bowler Dilshan Madushanka, the pace duo of Nuwanidu Fernando and Lahiru Kumara are playing in the do-or-die encounter.
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