Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, India, Sri Lanka, ICC Champions Trophy 2017
Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni celebrate their win over Pakistan, June 4, 2017Reuters

India got off to a statement-making start in their ICC Champions Trophy title defence, thumping their biggest rivals Pakistan. Now, it is onto playing another neighbouring country in Sri Lanka as Virat Kohli's men look to seal a spot in the semifinals of CT 2017.

In batting and bowling, India were quite brilliant against an, albeit, poor Pakistan side. After being put into bat, the defending champions posted a massive score on the board, despite their innings being interrupted by rain on a couple of occasions.

Then, while defending the total, the bowlers came to the party in some style, bowling Pakistan out for a paltry score to complete a brilliant win.

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More of the same will be the plan for India going into this game against Sri Lanka, although there is a big worry over the weather.

While there was rain in Birmingham in the game against Pakistan, it did not, thankfully, stop India from picking up a result. However, against Sri Lanka that might not be the case.

Heavy rain is forecast in London on Thursday, and it is likely to hamper the match.

Already, one game has been abandoned at The Oval this week, when Australia were denied an easy win over Bangladesh. And India will hope they don't end up having to settle for a point from the match against Sri Lanka.

Getting that semifinal spot signed, sealed and delivered a quickly as possible will be the plan, and if India play like they can against SL, then the result should go their way.

Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka, stumps, India, CT 2017
Sri Lanka struggled to stay with South Africa in their opening Champions Trophy 2017 match, June 3, 2017Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images

Just like Pakistan, Sri Lanka are also a team in transition, and it showed when they went down tamely to South Africa in their first match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

After giving away a 300-plus score to South Africa, Sri Lanka, despite a good start, folded pretty quickly, suggesting they are not quite there yet as far as moving on from Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan is concerned.

Of course, the fact that Angelo Mathews had to sit out the game due to injury did not help, but even if the captain returns to the side, you feel Sri Lanka will struggle to stay with this India team.

In a limited-overs match, though, anything is possible, especially if the Duckworth-Lewis method comes into play. Because if the game is curtailed and Sri Lanka are chasing – the chasing team invariably has the advantage when the match is cut down considerably – a surprising result could very well be the order of the day.

ICC champions Trophy Match 8 schedule: India vs Sri Lanka.

Date: Thursday, June 8, 2017.

 

Time: 10.30am BST, 1.30pm IST.

 

Venue: The Oval, London.

 

TV listings: India: Star Sports 1 and Star Sports HD1. UK: Sky Sports 2. Australia: Fox Sports. USA: Willow TV. New Zealand: Sky Sport. South Africa: SuperSport 2. Middle East: OSN Sports Cricket. Singapore: Star Cricket.