WATCH: Mohammed Siraj nearly pulls off spectacular catch during first ODI vs Sri Lanka

India took on Sri Lanka in the first ODI match of the three-match series on Friday in Colombo. It was the home team that won the toss and chose to bat first. KL Rahul was back in the side along with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Kuldeep Yadav. Rishabh Pant was benched for the game as KL Rahul took the gloves. 

Pathum Nissanka enjoyed an early piece of life early in his innings. The incident happened in the 4th ball of the eighth over. The Sri Lankan batter played a pick-up shot off his pads and the ball travelled to Mohammed Siraj.

ALMOST A WICKET!!



Good effort by Siraj 🙌.#SLvsIND



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The Indian fast bowler dove in front and tried to take the catch. The ball though popped out at the last moment. It was a great try but Pathum Nissanka got a huge lease of life which the Indian team would be wary of. 

Sri Lanka lose two early wickets 

Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka lost the wicket of Avishka Fernando early. The opening batter was caught by Arshdeep Singh at the third-man boundary off Mohammed Siraj. Kusal Mendis batted for 31 balls before scoring 14 runs with 1 four. 

Shivam Dube got the second wicket of the day when he had Kusal Mendis out LBW. The batter went up to review the call but the third umpire found the ball hitting the stumps. Pathum Nissanka on the other hand was going strong and had already hit five boundaries. 

Earlier in the day Rohit Sharma said “Good pitch. We have played a lot of cricket here and know the conditions. There have been a lot of changes; I am back, so is Virat, KL and Shreyas Iyer. Kuldeep also comes back in.

Dube is also playing. We have a pretty decent balance. We had a great World Cup, we didn't cross the finishing line but there were a lot of positives. We have created an atmosphere where guys can come in and play with freedom.”

Charith Asalanka after winning the toss said, “We are going to bat first. It looks like a dry pitch and that's the reason. We are going with 6-5 combination. Shiraz is making his debut today. We have to improve our mental skills, we did some bad things in the last game but that is the past and we are looking forward to this game. It (injuries) is a concern as a captain but I am looking forward to going with my second line of bowling.”