Kolkata: A confident Indian side would be the outright favourites when they lock horns against Sri Lanka in the first Test match of the three-match series in Kolkata on Thursday.
Just a day before the game, the city witnessed incessant rains that could be a spoilsport in the first two days of the Test. If only the weather gods decide to have some mercy then a full day’s play could be expected.
Virat said, “The wicket here looks very sporting, there’s a lot of grass on it which we’re really looking forward to play on. We want to build our games in a way that we look forward to playing anywhere in the world. We just want to play good cricket, that’s about it. We don’t want to wait for conditions that might suit our games. We want to develop our games for different kinds of conditions.”
India thoroughly dominated the last Test series they played against Sri Lanka earlier this year in the island nation where they not only won the series 3-0 but also went on to outplay the Lankans in all formats of the game. Be it batting, bowling or fielding-India played ruthless cricket and decimated the Sri Lankans, earlier this year as a result of which, the number one Test side would have plenty of opportunities to upset the heavyweight side.
But this Sri Lankan side would too have some momentum with them coming into this series. The Dinesh Chandimal led side toppled the likes of Yasir Shah, Mohammad Amir in the UAE and handed a 2-0 series defeat to Pakistan in the five-day format. Their batsmen produced fine performances while their bowling unit, led by the veteran Rangana Herath proved that Sri Lanka cannot be lightly at all.
Dinesh Chandimal said, “Looking at the last series, we played really good against their seamers. Especially, with our guys, they are really confident of playing with grass on the pitch and bouncy pitches. They are more than capable of playing in that kind of conditions.”
But playing against India, in India is a different ball game. Virat Kohli’s side has been continuously winning series after series at home and it would indeed take a massive effort if they are to defeat India.
For the number one side, this series would be a perfect preparation for the big tour of South Africa coming up early next year.
Ace spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja would return to the team after quite some time and would like to prove a point or two with their performances. Ashwin, needs just eight more wickets to become the fastest in the world to reach 300 Test wickets, a record which is currently held by Dennis Lillee, who had reached the milestone in 56 Tests.
Also, if KL Rahul opens the innings alongside Shikhar Dhawan on Thursday, and scores a 50, then he would be the first in history to hit eight consecutive fifties in Test cricket. He currently holds the record with Everton Weekes, Kumar Sangakkara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul with seven consecutive fifties.