India take on Sri Lanka at Galle in the series opener on Wednesday.
India enter the Test series against Sri Lanka after a spectacular domestic season where they won series against New Zealand, England and Australia. Prior to that, the top-ranked side in the world had beaten West Indies in the Caribbean which had been the onset of Anil Kumble’s reign as the coach of the Indian team.
Now, things have changed as far as the coach is concerned with Ravi Shastri coming in. As far as the team personnel is concerned, there isn’t much of a change. KL Rahul is an absentee from the squad due to a viral fever and his absence doesn’t cause much of a concern owing to a strong bench strength. At the same time, his absence makes it interesting of how the team would shape up – especially at the top of the order. Murali Vijay has not travelled to Sri Lanka due to a wrist injury. That reduces the options for the team management.
Ahead of the Galle Test, Virat Kohli said, “Rohit (Sharma) has never opened in a Test cricket and we don’t see that kind of experiment happening here because we have specialist openers in the team and they will obviously be starting this game.”
“Rahul is unfortunately down with a fever. Luckily, it is not anything serious. So he will get back in a few days. KL is a very established player for us, a very solid player. These kinds of scenarios present other players in the team with an opportunity to step up,” he added on Rahul’s absence from the team.
This makes it all but certain that India would open with Shikhar Dhawan and Abhinav Mukund and employ Cheteshwar Pujara after that.
Hardik Pandya – possible debut
With the surface expected to be a haven for the batsmen, it would be important to have enough armour in the bowling department to pick up 20 wickets. With that, Kohli hinted at a Test debut for Hardik Pandya who has been called up twice but is yet to feature. “It’s very important (to have enough bowling options). Also, you need to understand, the last time we felt in the first Test that we played here (in Galle in 2015), we probably were a batsman short and the fifth bowler didn’t do much in the game. We have those options open as well. We have great balance in the side.”
“We got a guy like Hardik Pandya, who has a knack of picking wickets. He has a great chance of playing as well. That gives us the balance. The extra batsman gave us more solidarity. We have taken learnings from that and we will surely apply that straight away into the series. It is very important to have your strike bowlers to be able to pick up wickets,” said Kohli in the pre-match press conference.
Spin options
Things are tricky in the bowling department. If Kohli and the team management decides to go with Pandya, they would have to compromise on their spin bowling options in R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav. The last time India played in Galle, Ashwin picked up ten wickets and the presence of numerous left handers in the home side’s lineup makes the off-spinner an obvious chance to take the field. It then comes down to picking between Jadeja and Kuldeep. Where Kuldeep offers the variety of a chinaman bowler, Jadeja’s variety in bowling makes him an asset. But it is worth mentioning that Jadeja hasn’t been in the greatest of forms.
