India will look to gain some momentum ahead of the World T20 2014 opener against Pakistan when they take on Sri Lanka in a warm-up game in Mirpur.
MS Dhoni and co have been under fire for their form, or lack thereof, in recent times, with the Men in Blue failing to impress in the Asia Cup 2014 as well after underwhelming tours to South Africa and New Zealand.
While Dhoni missed out on the Asia Cup through injury, the skipper will, no doubt, be keen to get a settled side in ahead of the cracker of a match against rivals Pakistan. The match will also be vital for the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, apart from Dhoni himself, to get some time out in the middle as they were not involved in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh.
"Our group is quite a competitive one so all the matches will be important," Dhoni said last week. "Especially when you consider our performance in the last edition of the World T20 where we exited from the tournament after losing just one game.
"We have a couple of warm-up games before our first game so we'll be looking towards using those warm-ups to sort out our team's balance."
For Sri Lanka as well, this match will be all about fine-tuning their lineup, as they look to put the contractual issues with the Sri Lankan Cricket Board behind them and concentrate on the job at hand.
"There's a lot of expectation among the fans that we will win the tournament as well, and even within the team, there is a belief that we can win this," Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal said. "We played in Bangladesh for two and a half months, so we have some experience on how the wicket is behaving there and also when the dew factor comes into play.
"Most of the players in the World Twenty20 squad played in the Bangladesh tour, so that's a big advantage.
"It's a great opportunity, but we can't take it for granted. We will have to put in a lot of effort, and take it from game to game - first working towards the semi-final. We have some things up our sleeve. We have a game plan for each team. Everyone is set for the short format, and we're looking forward to that."
Sri Lanka are the form team coming into this tournament, having beaten Bangladesh in a bilateral series in Bangladesh before winning the Asia Cup, albeit in the 50-over format, in the same country.
If India can ease past their opponents on Monday, then a lot of confidence will be gained ahead of what looks like being a highly-contested World T20.
Where to Watch Live:
World T20 2014: India vs Sri Lanka warm-up Live TV Information (Match starts 7.30 pm local time, 7 pm IST, 1.30 pm GMT, 9.30 am ET)
| Country | TV Broadcaster |
| India | Star Sports 3, Star Sports 2, Star Sports HD1 and Doordarshan |
| US and Latin America | ESPN |
| Canada | Sportsnet |
| UK and Ireland | Sky Sports |
| Middle East and North Africa | OSN Sport Cricket |
| Australia | Fox Sports |
| Sub Saharan Africa & South Africa | SuperSport |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport |
| Europe | EuroSport |
| Pakistan | PTV and Ten Sports |
| Sri Lanka | CSN |
| Bangladesh | Bangladesh TV, Maasranga TV and Gazi TV |
| Country | Online links |
| India | HERE |
| US | HERE |
| UK | HERE |
| Middle East | HERE |
| Canada | HERE |
| Australia | HERE |
| South Africa & Sub Saharan Africa | HERE |
| Latin America | HERE |
| New Zealand | HERE |
| Europe | HERE |
| Pakistan | HERE or HERE |
| Sri Lanka | HERE |
Squads: India: MS Dhoni (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Aaron, Mohit Sharma.
Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kusal Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Sachitra Senanayake, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal.
