India vs. Sri Lanka, 1st T20i: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

India and Sri Lanka will be looking to fine-tune their games ahead of the Asia Cup and Twenty20 World Cup over the course of this three-match series, which begins in Pune, India, on Tuesday.

While the hosts, after completing of hat-trick of back-to-back T20 wins over Australia, should be full of confidence, their opponents endured a difficult tour of New Zealand recently and are missing some big names.

Is the result of this clash and the series a foregone conclusion? Or can Dinesh Chandimal's men spring a huge surprise?

Let's take a look at how the two sides are shaping up ahead of this contest.

Date: Tuesday, 9 February

Time: 7.30 p.m. local (2 p.m. GMT)

Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium Pune, India

Live Stream and TV Info: Sky Sports (UK), Star Sports (India and Sri Lanka), Supersport (South Africa), Hotstar (streaming - subscription required).

Weather: According to BBC Weather, an unblemished scorcher of a day should continue into the night, leaving the path clear for an uninterrupted game.

Overview

Prior to the T20 series of their recent tour Down Under, India were ranked eighth in the world in the format, according to the ICC's official rankings.

CRAIG GOLDING/Getty Images

One whitewash later—a feat that has never previously been inflicted on the Australians at home in 140 years of history—and MS Dhoni's men are in top spot and looking good ahead of the T20 World Cup.

First, however, they must see off the Sri Lankans in this trio of games that are essentially rehearsals for the bigger occasions to come.

With this in mind, India have given Virat Kohli, who scored 199 runs in the T20s with Australia and was named Man of the Series, a well-deserved rest.

His absence will likely give either Ajinkya Rahane or Manish Pandey a chance to impress.

In another interesting selection, Bhuvneshwar Kumar missed out on the Asia Cup and World Cup squad, but he has been selected here seemingly to keep match fit in case Mohammed Shami, who has been named in both squads despite being injured, breaks down.

Finally, Pawan Negi, an all-rounder who bowls slow left-arm and has been in impressive form domestically, has received his first call-up and will act as an understudy to Ravindra Jadeja.

These mostly cosmetic changes aside, India's team is essentially the same one that comprehensively outplayed Australia, and confidence must be flowing through their ranks.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said of Sri Lanka, who, after enduring a torrid tour of New Zealand, will be forced to field a weakened team here.

A recent hand injury to Tillakaratne Dilshan has seen the veteran join Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga, Rangana Herath and Nuwan Pradeep in the treatment room...if there is room that is.

Of the squad that unsuccessfully contested the two T20s against New Zealand, just eight have managed to make the trip to India.

Of course, a more positive spin is that this will give Sri Lanka's youngsters more opportunities to test themselves and gain experience.

None more so than Dilshan's 22-year-old replacement Niroshan Dickwella, who has been in red-hot form domestically, scoring 189 runs in his last six innings at a strike rate of 173.

MICHAEL BRADLEY/Getty Images

Also, the rollercoaster progress of raw paceman Dushmantha Chameera continues to be fascinating.

At times unplayable, at times wild and expensive, the 24-year-old could be the next big thing in world cricket, and how he handles the hostile conditions in India will be revealing.

Despite these rays of hope and despite Sri Lanka being the current World Champions in this format, this clash seems like men against boys, and a one-sided contest could be in store.

T20i head-to-head record and latest meeting

Whereas India and Sri Lanka have contested an incredible 149 ODIs between them, they've only met six times in the T20 format. 

So far, honours have been even with three wins a piece, and in their last encounter, the final of the 2014 T20 World Cup final, the Sri Lankans ran out comfortable winners, chasing down 130 with 13 balls to spare.

T20i form

India: WWWNLL

Sri Lanka: LLLWLL

Squads

India

MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Pawan Negi.

Sri Lanka

Dinesh Chandimal (capt & wk), Seekkuge Prasanna, Milinda Siriwardana, Danushka Gunathilaka, Thisara Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Asela Gunaratne, Chamara Kapugedera, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilhara Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Binura Fernando, Sachithra Senanayake, Jeffrey Vandersay, Niroshan Dickwella.

Key Players

India

Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

With the rise-and-rise of Virat Kohli, this could be a perfect opportunity for MS Dhoni to reassert his authority over the side ahead of the World Cup. Although the cool-headed wicketkeeper has chipped in with some useful late-order flourishes of late, as evidenced by his haul of just 111 runs in his last eight innings, a major knock has been missing. Expect that to change against a weak-looking Sri Lankan side.

Sri Lanka

MARTY MELVILLE/Getty Images

Given the dearth of experience in his side, Dinesh Chandimal needs to lead from the front if Sri Lanka are to be competitive here. Surprisingly, the 26-year-old has scored just one international half-century from 25 T20i innings, but a Test average of 45.87 speaks volumes. Will this be the series that Chandimal establishes himself on the world stage?

Prediction

Games of T20 cricket can be decided on extremely narrow margins, but most of the cards are in India's hands here. With home advantage, key players in form and confidence flowing from winning three-in-a-row against Australia, a rude awakening could be in store for Sri Lanka in Pune.