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Breath of fresh air, on and off the field

After pollution-hit Test in New Delhi, ODI series begins in hilly Dharamsala today with both teams being led by new captains

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India ODI captain Rohit Sharma gestures during practice in Dharamsala on Saturday; (Right) MS Dhoni plays with a sniffer dog
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For the first time since 2005 when this tiny hilly town first hosted a major cricket match – Pakistan's tour opener against Board President's XI in the 2005 series – the buzz around a cricket game here is missing.

It might be because India are going into a five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, the first of which is starting here on Sunday, without their captain Virat Kohli due to "personal" reasons, or that this touring Sri Lanka team is deprived of big stars.

But whether or not this will be a sold out first One-dayer, one thing is for certain: there will be plenty of fresh air for both teams to enjoy.

No player from either side will need an additional piece of protective gear to save him from pollution, like the islanders did during the final Test in New Delhi. No fan will now call the Sri Lankans "losers", and the visiting team's fight will only be against their opponents rather than external factors.

There will also be a breath of fresh air for both teams on the field.

India will have a new leader in Rohit Sharma, who will make his debut as an international captain. A seven-match winning streak that the hosts are sitting on is enough to Sharma as well as the team a head start.

Even without Kohli, the Indian batting line up looks formidable with the presence of Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni.

The opening slot is also well taken care of by skipper Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, who enjoyed a long batting session on Saturday after recovering from viral fever.

The only issue could be the current sloppy form of Rahane, who is likely to get a chance at Kohli's No. 3 spot in order to come out of the worst batting slump of his career.

With the South Africa series round the corner, the team management will be more than eager to see Rahane scoring runs in the remainder of the series.

Karthik looks set to retain his place, while Dhoni will need to prove that he is still a force to reckon with when it comes to chasing big totals in limited-overs cricket.

The former India skipper has been facing criticism lately, struggling to push the scoring rate in crunch situations. The second T20I against New Zealand, which India lost by 40 runs last month, was one such example.

With Kedar Jadhav being ruled out of the series due to a hamstring injury, one of Shreyas Iyer or Manish Pandey could be the beneficiary.

Back from an enforced break, all-rounder Hardik Pandya is an automatic choice for his fine show in recent times.

The bowling department will see Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar again sharing the new ball. The chances of playing newcomer Siddharth Kaul will depend on how the Indian skipper reads the pitch and conditions.

Sharma might be tempted to go in with three pacers if it's a foggy and windy Sunday, as the weatherman has predicted. Otherwise, Yuzvendra Chahal and chinaman Kuldeep Yadav or left-arm orthodox Axar Patel would complete the playing XI for the hosts.

The Sri Lankans have plenty to regain here as well, apart from fresh air. Their recent ODI graph is not imposing, being swept away thrice by different opponents and winning just four games out of a total 26 matches in 2017.

The primary task of the team under new skipper Thisara Perera will be to halt their ongoing 12-match losing streak. Perhaps that's why Upul Tharanga was fired as ODI skipper, under whom Sri Lanka lost series to India, South Africa and Pakistan this year without a single victory.

The good news for Perera is that his senior player Angelo Mathews will also bowl after completely recovering from his injury. Mathews's bowling means that visitors can play an extra batsman. The return of Danushka Gunathilaka and Asela Gunaratne has also bolstered the visiting batting line-up.

But that's where the good news ends for Perera, because Rohit Sharma will be eager to take this leadership opportunity seriously, and start off with a bang amid the fresh air.

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