London [UK], June 7 : Skipper Angelo Mathews has stated that India has one of the best bowling attacks in the world and thus Sri Lanka batsmen need to come out with a good performance in Thursday's fixture in Champions Trophy at the Oval.
The Indian bowling attack has so far been unstoppable in the tournament. While they demolished Bangladesh and New Zealand in the warm-up encounters, they dismissed arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening game of the tournament in just 38.4 overs.
In what could be expected as a seam-friendly surface at The Oval, Sri Lanka can expect a stern challenge from the India pacers, especially Umesh Yadav.
"If you talk about India, the batting line-up has always put teams under pressure, but this bowling lineup is quite different," ESPNcricinfo quoted Mathews as saying at the press conference on the eve of the match against India.
"They're one of the best in the world. You get a good balance of spin and pace, and they're all different to each other, and they've got a fantastic bowling attack.
For the batters it will be hard work, especially on this greenish wicket, but we're just hoping for a good performance tomorrow," he added.
The Men in Blue would be brimming with confidence after they thrashed Pakistan by 124 runs (D/L method) at Edgbaston on Sunday and would go into their match against Sri Lanka at the Oval to be played on Thursday as clear favourites.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka find themselves in a do-or-die situation after being thrashed by South Africa in their opening match.
These comments from Kohli come after former skipper Kumar Sangakkara said that Sri Lanka should play with arrogance against India on Thursday.
"I would personally like this young Sri Lanka side to walk out at The Oval and play with the arrogance and abandon of youth," Sangakkara wrote in his column for the International Cricket Council (ICC).
"They should express their talent and play a really positive brand of cricket. If they are able to do this, then they have a chance of pulling off an upset, but it will not be easy an India team that so confidently overwhelmed Pakistan on Sunday," he added.
The familiar foes are meeting for the first time in One-Day Internationals since November 2014, when India walloped Sri Lanka 5-0 in a home series.
In the subsequent two-and-a-half-year period, the teams have gone in contrasting directions and find themselves at different ends of the ODI spectrum.
Squads: India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik.
Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (Captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickewalla (wicketkeeper), Chamara Kapugedara, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Sekkuge Prasanna, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Lakshan Sandakan, Lasith Malinga, Asela Gunaratne, Nuwan Kulasekara, Upul Tharanga.
Source: ANI
