India look to maintain pink-ball dominance at home as listless Sri Lanka eye batting turnaround – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

It was only a couple of months ago that India suffered a surprising series defeat at the hands of a South African team in transition in the Rainbow Nation. It sparked a slew of changes as Virat Kohli relinquished his captaincy.

The old-guard (Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha and Ishant Sharma) was straightaway informed that it won’t be considered for the Sri Lanka series. India’s limited-overs captain Rohit Sharma was handed the Test captaincy as well.

Sri Lanka Tests beckoned.

And Rohit got off the mark in style with a thumping win inside three days in Mohali. Things suddenly look different. And it’s not a surprise because India are a different beast at home. A lot of opposition teams arrive, stutter, get strangled and surrender with a tap out.

Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin helped India wrap up the Mohali Test inside three days. Image: Sportzpics for BCCI

Teams often come to India well prepared but after a point start feeling helpless. Sri Lanka have experienced it over the years. They haven’t won a single match on Indian soil. They knew before arriving that even drawing a Test would be a daunting task. And like many other teams in the past, it didn’t take them long to capitulate.

As they head to Bengaluru for the Day-Night Test and try to build some sort of confidence, they would hope no one whispers India’s performance in Pink-Ball Tests at home, into their ears.

Bangladesh were the first to experience India’s wrath as they were hammered by an innings and 46 runs in Kolkata inside three days. England didn’t even last that long, as they were thumped by 10 wickets inside two days in Ahmedabad last year.

While Sri Lanka’s bowlers ended up conceding 574 in the first innings in Mohali, their biggest concern would be the performance of their batters. They were bowled out for 174, made to follow on and again got skittled out for 178 inside two days.

They couldn’t counter the Indian spin challenge as Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin combined to take 15 of the 20 wickets.

Well, the bad news for them is that left-arm spinner Axar Patel is back in the reckoning after recovering from an injury and COVID-19 bout. He’s replaced Kuldeep Yadav in the squad and could slot straight back in, replacing Jayant Yadav.

The last time Axar played in a Pink-Ball Test, he wreaked havoc with his straighter ones with 11 wickets in the match against England in Ahmedabad. In his nascent Test career so far, Axar has picked up a five-for in four of the five Tests. He has 36 wickets from five games at 11.86.

In the two Day-Night Tests India have played at home, they have bundled out the opposition for — 106, 195, 112 and 81 in the four innings respectively.

The record does sound an ominous warning and Sri Lanka would require a combination of resilience, patience and good technique to survive the Indian storm.

They would need their captain Dimuth Karunaratne, probably their best player of spin bowling in the current line-up, to step up. He has been the in-form batter and their highest run-getter in the last couple of years and laying a strong platform up top could be really crucial. Sri Lanka can take confidence from the way Pathum Nissanka and Niroshan Dickwella batted in the first and second innings respectively and hope that the other batters build on it.

There is a need for a vast improvement in the bowling department as well. They weren’t disciplined and gave away too many freebies. The bowling attack went from being over-excited and trying too much to being listless as the game progressed.

‘Rockstar’ Jadeja was all over the Lankans in Mohali, scoring 175 not out and picking up nine wickets, and it will be difficult for the visitors to keep him at bay in the Bengaluru Test. Jadeja has gone from a ‘cameo man’ to being ‘daddy hundred guy’ in recent years. One of the biggest stories of Indian cricket in the last couple of years has been the batting evolution of Jadeja. And then he keeps doing his things with the ball. It’s not a surprise that he’s now the No 1 Test all-rounder in the world. And yes, don’t forget his fielding as well.

India had a near-perfect Test in Mohali. The openers — Rohit Sharma (29) and Mayank Agarwal (33) and Shreyas Iyer (27) — would be eager to score big after missing out on a decent track batting first. However, the middle-order which has been their Achilles’ heel for quite some time, delivered.

Kohli looked good for his 45 off 76 balls in his milestone 100th Test but that three-figure score still eluded him. It’s been 28 Test innings since his last century. The way he batted in the Mohali innings would have given him a lot of positive vibes. Coincidentally, he scored his last century, in a Pink-Ball Test, against Bangladesh three years ago in 2019. A masterful 136 in tricky conditions. He is back at his second home and would look to seek inspiration from that innings as he seeks to end the three-figure drought.

While India wouldn’t want to make many changes to the winning combination, there could be a discussion on whether to play an extra pacer (most likely Mohammad Siraj) or go in with three spinners again. Vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah, in the pre-match conference, said that the team will take a call depending on the track which they will assess on the eve of the match. However, Axar’s performance against England in Ahmedabad might shift the balance in his favour.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, might be forced into making a change with Lahiru Kumara sustaining a hamstring injury in the last match. It would be interesting to see whether they will bring in an extra pacer or a spinner given that their fast bowlers scalped five out of the eight Indian wickets to fall in Mohali. If they opt for a pacer then Dushmantha Chameera might be the one who gets the nod.

Test cricket returns to M Chinnaswamy Stadium after almost three years. The last time India played here, they thumped Afghanistan, playing their debut Test, by an innings and 262 runs. Ashwin and Jadeja combined to take 11 wickets in the match.

Sri Lanka have played just one match at this venue but they don’t have happy memories of that Test as they were beaten by an innings and 95 runs by a Mohammad Azharuddin-led Indian side. It was a Test where they were made to follow on. But that was way back in 1994.

India have been unbeaten at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium since 2007, having won four and drawn three matches. They however have a middling record at the venue, having won eight of the 23 matches, losing six and drawing nine.

Every match is crucial for India from now on as they are lagging behind in the World Test Championship cycle and they would be looking to go all out in pursuit of a win and vital points. With confidence on India’s side, spin fire-power in their arsenal and formidable record in Pink-Ball Tests at home, Sri Lanka are in for another daunting challenge in Bengaluru. That historic first-ever Test win on Indian soil still looks like a distant dream. However, miracles and cricket have had a long-lasting love relationship over the years. And Sri Lanka too.

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