Asia Cup 2023: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today’s India vs Sri Lanka match ft. Matheesha Pathirana

Indian bowlers made their lives slightly easier by bowling Pakistan out in just 32 overs on Monday, the exclusive and controversial reserve day for Sunday's Super Four clash. This means they'd be at least half-fresh to face Sri Lanka in another important game on Tuesday at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

Had Pakistan batted all 50 overs, we would have seen the Men in Blue, some of them coming from major injuries, bowl, or take the field for the better part of two days. Of course, they do it during Tests, but the intensity in red-ball cricket is lower, there are more breaks in between and over-rate isn't as big a worry as in ODIs.

Still, it won't be a surprise if India rest Jasprit Bumrah and a few batters today. They have excellent back-ups ready in Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma so it shouldn't be a big worry.

There's more calm at the Sri Lankan end. They don't have a lot of their first-choice players available for this tournament but are yet to drop points. The three wins here have taken their ODI win streak to 13, the second-best ever. They are also the first team to bowl their opponents out in 13 consecutive matches.

Whatever the changes for India, we'll still certainly see two exciting and high-quality bowling attacks going head-to-head.

Following is our prediction of which three could be the top wicket-takers in the match today:

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#3 Matheesha Pathirana

This one is purely on form. Right-arm speedster Matheesha Pathirana has taken eight wickets in just three matches in the 2023 Asia Cup, the joint second-best with Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has played one match extra.

He mostly bowls at the death and in the middle overs. Pathirana nails his yorkers to perfection in the last 10 overs and used that to pick up two wickets against Bangladesh on Saturday, taking his overall tally to three in the match.

India's middle order is going through a bit of a rocky phase with Shreyas Iyer's comeback and injury, Ishan Kishan's debut at No. 5, and KL Rahul's return.

It might see more changes due today and could be quite susceptible to Pathirana's pace variation and extremely smart use of angles with his unique action.

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#2 Maheesh Theekshana

The R. Premadasa Stadium has historically been a hunting ground for spinners. Sri Lanka's mystery tweaker Maheesh Theekshana, who like Pathirana, plays for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, has taken 10 wickets at this ground, including a four-wicket haul, from five matches at an average of 20.90.

He's Dasun Shanaka's strike weapon and bowls at all stages of the match with similar tenacity. Theekshana's biggest weapon is his subtle variations and the ability to bowl all of them from just one spot on the pitch.

Theekshana is especially difficult to pick from hands if you are playing him for the first time, which most Indian players today would be. All batters, whether they look to play him out or be aggressive, will have to work hard to not give him their wickets.

The spinner is in good form too, having taken three wickets against Bangladesh and six wickets at 25 in the tournament overall.

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#1 Kuldeep Yadav

Indian leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav probably wouldn't be rested today because he hasn't bowled a lot in Asia Cup 2023 so far.

This will give him an opportunity to build on his superb five-wicket haul against Pakistan on Monday. The left-arm wrist spinner has been in good form all year but looked in stunning rhythm against Pakistan, making the ball move as if it were on a string.

He already had five wickets at this ground and has now doubled the tally. Sri Lanka are one of his favorite ODI opponents too; the 28-year-old has 14 wickets against them in nine matches at an average of 24.36.

Kuldeep have a positive match-up against left-handers Dimuth Karunaratne and Charith Asalanka while Shanaka has gotten out to him in both of their last meetings. There's a good chance that Kuldeep will enjoy a fruitful spell today.