(Info4now, March 12, 2022)- Even being familiar with the surface Sri Lanka surrender to India’s defence. It’s not new to Sri Lanka as even with a better team, they failed to breach this fortress earlier. This time they are playing with some inexperienced players and another possibility of such acceptance is expected in IND vs SL 2nd Test starting today at Chinnaswamy, Bangalore.
Sri Lanka have to think better as they move to Chinnaswamy. As they have good spinners in the bag and the current side of India are not as good as the conventional Indian side years ago, Sri Lanka should look for a healthy score first. The first thing they should target is not to give wicket to the pacers.
India on the other hand, are always a good Test side. With so many giant batsmen in the squad, India are a very strong batting side. For long, Ravindra Jadeja has been a key player for India. In the last game, his performance has not come as a surprise. It’s home soil and being enough experienced, it was easy to exploit Lanka’s weak attack.
Preview: IND vs SL 2nd Test Bangalore, Sri Lanka tour of India 2022
Sri Lanka should eye batting with more discipline. Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne will open the innings. They looked very comfortable at the start in the last game. They timed the ball well. But they need to be very patient before the middle order comes to play. Angelo Mathews is the most experienced campaigner for the visiting team. He should take greater responsibility to keep the game alive for his side.
In the bowling line up, they might go for one more spinner if the wicket assists slow bowlers. Suranga Lakmal is a fine bowler for a pink ball and Dushmanta Chameera will probably replace Lahiru Kumara. If they wish to include Jayawickrama to partner Lasith Embuldeniya, they have to go with two pacers. It’s tough to assess what’s going on the camp and probably it’s a last minute decision on examining the wicket.
Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal are completely fit at the top and like to bat with their feet on the accelerator. So they have the capability to take away the game very quickly. Hanuma Vihari deserves to play on home soil as he has been carrying the responsibility of tackling top order failure for long in away matches. He is in terrific touch and solid at No.3 spot.
Virat Kohli had only one chance in his hundredth Test and fell short of a big one. Every time he bats for the country, he looks very comfortable and now needs some luck to extend his beautiful short innings. Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja to follow and it’s a tough batting line for any opposition. In place of Jayant Yadav, either Md. Siraj or Axar Patel will come in. It’s again something that depends upon the condition.
To Conclude
In a day game, it’s always spin friendly at Chinnaswamy. It’s a good decision to bat first. But it’s a day-night game. This pink ball might remain polished for a long time and therefore will help the seamers too. Still both the teams will look for strong spin attack in IND vs SL 2nd Test believing on the soil of Bangalore and the drifting of the deliveries.
Probable Playing XI India: Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel/ Md Siraj, Md Shami and Jasprit Bumrah.
Sri Lanka Test Squad for IND vs SL 2nd Test
Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dhananjaya de Silva (vc), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Charith Asalanka, Niroshan Dickwella, Chamika Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera, Vishwa Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrema and Lasith Embuldeniya.