A confident Indian side led by Rohit Sharma would be aiming for nothing less than a 2-0 win in the two-Test series when they take on injury-plagued Sri Lanka in the second and final Test in Bengaluru, which will be played under floodlights from Saturday .
India have won for the 14th time in a row since losing 2-1 to England in 2012 and will look to seal a 15th straight run at home.
As this is a pink ball competition, either a fit spin-rounder Axar Patel or Pacer Mohammed Siraj could replace Jayant Yadav in the Playing XI as both have the ability to do more damage in a pink ball game .
Ahead of what matters #PAKvOFF and #INDvSL Tryouts, here’s what the #WTC23 Table looks like https://t.co/ek6BZAqQWs pic.twitter.com/CgkXD9zZ7v
— ICC (@ICC) March 11, 2022
Axar had wreaked havoc with his undercutters in Ahmedabad against England in his last pink ball test, winning 11 wickets in the competition. He even opened the attack in England’s second innings. However, if the grass stays on the pitch, Siraj would be a better option for skipper Rohit Sharma.
Another change in the squad is unlikely, although it will be interesting to see if Hanuma Vihari gets another chance to beat in third place. Rohit had said it was not certain the slot would stay with Vihari.
SRI LANKA’S FIGHT: Their resources are already not good enough to challenge the talent in the Indian squad. The Sri Lankans will be without pacer Lahiru Kumara, who is out with a hamstring injury.
To make matters worse for the touring squad, Pathum Nissanka, who went 61 unbeaten in the first innings at Mohali, was ruled out of the Pink Ball Test with a back injury.
Fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera, who missed the first match through injury, was also unavailable while fellow paceman Lahiru Kumara injured a hamstring on an opening day in Mohali.
“Injuries are a major concern for us,” Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne told reporters on Friday.
“We have few bowlers and to win a Test we need 20 wickets. So it’s very difficult to win against a team like India.”
INDIA’S LAST HOME TEST IN 2022: It will be the last friendly on home soil for Team India in 2022. After the series in Sri Lanka, there are seven more tests in the current WTC cycle. The team will travel to Bangladesh for a two-game series and then Australia will arrive in 2023 for a four-Test rubber.
It will be the fourth day-night test for both Sri Lanka and India and both share a similar record of two wins and one loss each.
teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hanuma Vihari, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jayant Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Kona Bharat (wk) , Umesh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, and Priyank Panchal
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (Captain), Dhanajaya De Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella, Lasith Embuldeniya, Vishwa Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Lahiru Kumara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Pathum Nssanka, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, and Chamika Karunaratne
