Captain Virat Kohli says the T20I series with Sri Lanka will help India find their “fearless match-winners” ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia.
India are taking on Lasith Malinga’s men in Indore and Pune this week as they play their first cricket of 2020.
However, Kohli already has one eye on the T20 World Cup later this year.
India are priced as 4.50 (7/2) second-favourites with Bet365 to win the tournament. Hosts Australia head the betting at 3.75 (11/4).
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Kohli will be looking to see how his players handle pressure situations as he fine-tunes T20 World Cup preparations.
“The next few series will be very exciting to see who stands up under pressure situations and how they react to pressure,” he said.
“Those things will be interesting to find out because we need guys who are ready till 6 and 7 to win games. It can't be dependent on two guys or three guys to win; that's not how you win ICC tournaments.
“So, that's our main focus to reveal situations to guys and expect them to come into their own and become those fearless match-winners that we should have going into a big tournament.”
| Team | Odds |
| Australia | 3.75 |
| India | 4.50 |
| England | 5.50 |
| South Africa | 7.50 |
| New Zealand | 8.00 |
| West Indies | 10.00 |
| Pakistan | 11.00 |
| Sri Lanka | 26.00 |
| Afghanistan | 51.00 |
| Bangladesh | 101.00 |
| Ireland | 501.00 |
| Netherlands | 1001.00 |
| Oman | 1001.00 |
| Papua New Guinea | 1001.00 |
| Scotland | 1001.00 |
| Namibia | 1501.00 |
Kohli also underlined how important the IPL is to India’s chances of World Cup glory.
He added: “T20 is something we don't have any problems in picking players,” said Kohli. “Because you have the IPL, at a very competitive level, guys have been performing season after season”.
“All the players you see are probably the most important Indian players in their team in the IPL, who feature for the franchises in every game. So, from that point of view, it's about figuring out which player can fit in at what time and what's the strongest combination you can take to the World Cup.”
| IPL Team | Winner Odds |
| Mumbai Indians | 5.0 |
| Hyderabad Sunrisers | 5.0 |
| Chennai Super Kings | 5.5 |
| Delhi Captials | 7.0 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 8.0 |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | 8.0 |
| Rajasthan Royals | 10.0 |
| Kings XI Punjab | 11.0 |
As well as leading India, Kohli will again captain Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2020.
They are priced at 8.00 (7/1) with Bet365 to finally secure their first title.
The Bangalore's squad looks to have much more balance to it this year after their additions at the IPL Auction.
RCB's biggest buy was South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris for INR 10,00 crore. That came after already adding Australian captain Aaron Finch for INR 4.4 crore.
They also boosted their squad with Kane Richardson, Dale Steyn, Isuru Udana, Shahbaz Ahamas, Joshua Philippe and Pavan Deshpande.
| Virat Kohli (C) | AB de Villiers |
| Devdutt Padikkal | Gurkeerat Singh |
| Moeen Ali | Mohammed Siraj |
| Navdeep Saini | Parthiv Patel |
| Pawan Negi | Shivam Dube |
| Umesh Yadav | Chris Morris |
| Aaron Finch | Yuzvender Chahal |
| Washington Sundar | Kane Richardson |
| Joshua Phillipe | Pavan Deshpande |
| Shabaz Ahmad | Isuru Udana |
| Dale Steyn |
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