It’s a clash between two evenly matched teams as India take on Sri Lanka. It’s been a while since India has played a Test series in Sri Lanka. In the past, India and Sri Lanka were always at it, playing each other countless times, even up to the point of boredom. But this series promises to be different.
For one, you have two young teams that are rebuilding. True, this may be taken to mean that neither of the two teams are at their best. Many of the legendary players who played in the last India- Sri Lanka series are gone, and with Kumar Sangakkara set to retire from international cricket with this match, another stalwart of sub-continental will be gone forever.
India are a young team with a plenty of players experienced in the limited overs format, but not so much in Tests. KL Rahul is set to play as Murali Vijay misses out because of an injury. Rahul has already made a hundred in Australia, so he definitely can step up to the mark.
Rohit Sharma needs to step up too, as his stays at no. 3 in the Test arena haven’t been great, to say the least. Also, young wicketkeeper Wridhiman Saha has to establish himself. He is yet to play an innings of significance for India and this might just be his last chance to impress.
R Ashwin is mostly likely to play at no.7, so he will be expected to perform as an all-rounder in this match. He will be joined by Harbhajan Singh and the three fast bowlers – possibly Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron. Ishant had a great game in the practice match, picking up 5 wickets in quick time. He seems to be back in form.
As captain Virat Kohli says, “It’s a great opportunity to create some momentum, knowing it’s a three-match series. Even if it’s an off day, you still have time to re-group and think about what went wrong. If it’s a good day you can learn from it.”
For Sri Lanka, this will be the last Test match in which Kumar Sangakkara would feature. Captain Angelo Mathews paid a moving tribute to the legend: “In the last eight years of my career, Kumar Sangakkara has helped me personally. He is always willing to help the young guys and whenever you play a bad shot he comes up to us and says that we can play it in a better way.
“He gives confidence to the youngest and not only for the batsmen – for the bowlers as well. We learnt a lot from him and we are thankful for who he has been for the team on and off the field. He is your go-to man. You can always go to him and get an honest opinion.”
Sri Lanka are a young team and will depend heavily on Mathews and Sangakkara in the batting department. Their bowling looks decent with spinners Rangana Herath and Tharindu Kaushal leading the attack. Medium pacers Dhammika Prasad and Nuwan Pradeep are pretty good as well and will be looking for early wickets.
The Teams
Sri Lanka: 1 Kaushal Silva, 2 Dimuth Karunaratne, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Upul Tharanga, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt.), 6 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 7 Jehan Mubarak, 8 Dhammika Prasad, 9 Tharindu Kaushal, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Nuwan Pradeep
India: 1 KL Rahul, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Rohit Sharma, 4 Virat Kohli (capt.), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 R Ashwin, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Varun Aaron, 11 Umesh Yadav
Match Conditions
Sri Lankan pitches are known to assist spinners from day one. The Galle track should be no different. It is possible that we may not get a full match as the weather is really quite bad at Galle and is expected to get worse.
Watch India take on Sri Lanka at 10:00 AM from 12th to 16th August on Sony Six.
