- Embarrassment of the Playing XI in front of the captain Gill
- Seat 2 and Contender 4,
- Who will get a chance?
The two-match Test series between India and Sri Lanka (IND vs SL 1st Test) will begin on August 15. The first Test match will be played on Saturday, August 15 at Galle, while the second Test match will be played at Colombo on August 23. The Gaule Test will start at 10:00 AM IST. The Indian batsmen will have a tough challenge in the first Test, as the wicket is known for its spin. Lately Indian batsmen have been struggling with spin in the longest form of cricket. In the past, India have faced clean sweeps against New Zealand and South Africa on spin-friendly pitches at home. So, this match is expected to be exciting.
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This series is also important for Gambhir
This series will also be very important for coach Gautam Gambhir. This can determine his future in Test cricket. Under Gambhir's tenure, India have won the Champions Trophy, Asia Cup and T20 World Cup in white-ball cricket, but the situation in Test cricket has been dismal. A loss to South Africa in the current World Test Championship cycle has dealt a major blow to India's hopes of reaching the WTC final. India have nine Test matches to play in this cycle and must win almost all of them.
The challenge in Ga is not easy
According to statistics from Galle, Sri Lanka have won 27 of the 49 Test matches played here since 1998. Spinners have played a major role in this dominance. Sri Lanka have dominated the ground thanks to the spin magic of Muttiah Muralitharan and Rangana Herath. But they still have spinners like Prabhat Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis, who have made the wicket their fort.
Jurel and Sarfraz who will get a chance?
The performance of these two middle-order batsmen against the Sri Lankan spinners will be decisive in this Test. Despite not batting well in the warm-up matches, Jurel may be preferred over Sarfraz Khan. India will also expect big knocks from the top three batsmen of KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal. However, Gill will be the mainstay of the team's batting line-up. After Sai Sudarshan's injury, Padikkal has almost cemented his place at number three. He also scored a century in a warm-up match. With a good innings in goal, Padikkal has a golden opportunity to strengthen his claim at number three.
Will Team India field 3 spinners?
India are likely to field three left-arm spinners in Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar and Ravindra Jadeja. Bowling coach Morne Morkel had hinted on Thursday that a decision could be made to field three left-arm spinners. Gaul's pitch will not be so easy for Faldaji. As the match progresses, spinners can find help on this ground.
Famous Ki Gurnoor Who will play the character?
Most of the onus will be on the spinners on this pitch, but the leading fast bowler Mohammad Siraj and the popular Krishna are going to have a lot of responsibility. But Gurnoor Brar has also done well in white-ball cricket recently. Ravichandran Ashwin preferred Gurnoor instead of Famous, but could be preferred because of Famous's experience. However, captain Shubman Gill has kept silent on this. He told a press conference that a decision will be taken on the day of the match.
India's Probable Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vice-captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Dhruv Jurel/Saransh Jain/Sarfraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Manav Suthar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Famous Krishna/Gurnoor Brar.
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