The Indian cricket team is all set to play the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on Wednesday as they kick off their 42-day tour of the island nation.
The tour comprises of three Tests, five One Day Internationals (ODIS) and one Twenty20 International (T20I).
This is Ravi Shastri's first assignment as India's head coach in his second stint. Bharat Arun and Sanjay Bangar will be India's bowling and batting coach respectively. R Sridhar will continue as the fielding coach of the side.
Earlier in June, India won an ODI series 3-1 against the West Indies and lost to the Caribbean side in the lone T20I.
India had last toured Sri Lanka in August-September 2015, during Ravi Shastri's first tenure as the full-time coach. India had defeated Sri Lanka 2-1 in that three match Test series. The series also saw Sri Lankan veteran Kumar Sangakkara retire from international cricket.
India and Sri Lanka have played 38 Test matches against each other. India have won 16 and 'The Lions' have won seven. Fifteen matches have ended in a draw.
The two neighbours have played a total of 150 ODIs till date. India has won 83 of them, 55 have been won by Sri Lanka, 11 matches have yielded no result, and one match was tied.
In T20Is, India has won six out of the ten matches they have played against Sri Lanka who have won the remaining four.
Schedule
First Test - July 26-30, Galle
Second Test - August 3-7, Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo
Third Test - August 12-16, Pallekele
First ODI - August 20, Dumbulla
Second ODI - August 24, Pallekele
Third ODI - August 27, Pallekele
Fourth ODI - August 31, R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Fifth ODI - September 3, R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Only T20I - September 6, R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Indian squad
Virat Kohli (Captain), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha (Wicketkeeper), Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav and Umesh Yadav.
Strengths
The Indian squad is more balanced than their counter-parts. The Indian side did well in the Champions Trophy before they lost to Pakistan in the final. Their overall performance in West Indies was decent too.
India's record in Sri Lanka has been good especially because the bowlers have been able to pick 20 wickets in Tests and the batsmen have been able to do well in what can be called familiar conditions.
Shastri and Kohli get along well. The new coaching staff and the squad have worked together previously including the 2015 World Cup.
In terms of batting, no Sri Lankan batsman features in the top 15 Test and ODI rankings while four Indians feature in the same bracket.
No Sri Lankan bowler features in the top 35 in ODIs while seven Indian bowlers feature in the same bracket.
Weaknesses
KL Rahul was expected to replace Murali Vijay who is out owing to an injury. But, on Monday, the team confirmed that KL Rahul will miss the first match due to fever. As for their replacements Shikhar Dhawan has not played a Test since October 2016 and Abhinav Mukund has played one Test for India in March this year, after a gap of almost six years.
Mukund and Dhawan will take a while before they settle down. Lack of a stable opening pair could hurt India.
India has played a long series against Australia, the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Champions Trophy followed by the tour of West Indies on the trot. With so much cricket being played, fatigue can be another factor.
Opportunities
Sri Lanka's new Test captain Dinesh Chandimal will miss the first match due to pneumonia. Rangana Herath will be standing in for him. Herath had led Sri Lanka for four matches in 2016-17. Upul Tharanga has been a stand-in captain in the limit overs formats for less than a year. None of them have enough captaincy experience.
This Sri Lankan side, which is in the process of rebuilding, lost to Zimbabwe 3-2 in an ODI series at home in June-July before pulling off a great escape by successful chasing 388 in the fourth iniings to win the only Test.
An inexperienced side, new captains and recent poor performance at home present an opportunity for Kohli & Co.
The men in blue can climb one spot on the ODI ranking if they win the series 5-0.
Threats
Sri Lanka's team is young and inexperienced compared to India's. Knowing that they had beaten India in the Champions Trophy, Sri Lanka will look to play freely as they have nothing to lose.
Between January 2011 and December 2016, the lowest average for opening partnerships (25 runs) in Test cricket out of all countries, is in Sri Lanka. India could struggle to establish solid starts especially with an unsettled opening pair.
A Test series loss would mean India slip one spot in the Test ranking. India will slip two spots in the ODI rankings if they lose the series.
The two-day practice match India played against Sri Lanka President's XI in Colombo gave us a sneak-peak into what the Test series could look like. The Sri Lankan President's XI were bundled out for 187. Spinner Kuldeep Yadav picked four wickets while Jadeja took three. KL Rahul and Kohli scored half-centuries while Rahane, Rohit Sharma and Dhawan retired after scoring around 40 runs each. Abhinav Mukund, who is trying to fit into the team, was out for a duck.
It is the monsoon in the sub-continent and wet conditions in Sri Lanka can be expected. It is expected to be cloudy throughout the series. We can also expect several rain delays and disruptions.
Kohli has got the coach he would have preferred while Shastri is back at the helm of affairs after a one year hiatus. The team is making a fresh start with the goal to win the 2019 World Cup. Making a winning start will be key to the prospects of this team in the months to come.
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