“India will be big favorites to maintain their unbeaten pink-ball Test record at home, as new captain Rohit Sharma aims a clean sweep of Sri Lanka in Saturday’s second Test.
The hosts thrashed Sri Lanka in three days in Mohali to grab a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, and the visitors must quickly get their act together under the lights in Bangalore.
Ravindra Jadeja, the world’s top-ranked all-rounder, smashed an unbroken 175 and took nine wickets in Rohit’s maiden Test since taking over from Virat Kohli as captain in all forms earlier this year.
“Rohit, we are all aware of his tactical prowess and ability. However, I saw a lot of human characteristics in the manner he led the team,” off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said last week.
“He was considering everyone on the team, how they would feel, and how everyone’s confidence is critical to the engine room’s operation.”
Rohit described the hosts’ performance as “near-perfect.”
India became the last major Test side to play a five-day match under lights, defeating Bangladesh in little over two days in Kolkata in 2019.
However, in December 2020 at the Adelaide Oval, Australia skittled the Kohli-led side for 36, India’s lowest Test total.
The squad returned to winning ways in a floodlit Test in February last year, when they hammered England in two days at the world’s largest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.“
– ‘Not retaliating’ –
“India is likely to defeat Sri Lanka once again, although Ashwin cautioned that day-night Tests may be unexpected.
“It’s really difficult to prepare for a pink-ball Test because you have no idea what to anticipate,” he told the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s website.
“So far, we’ve played three pink-ball Tests, and each one has taught us something new.
“Light will also be significant… There are other factors in play, but (we) rely on our confidence from the last game. I’m looking forward to the task, and I’m hoping the spinners have a say.“
Axar Patel, the left-arm spinner who took 11 wickets in India’s triumph over England, might make the XI in Bangalore’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium after being promoted to the squad in lieu of Kuldeep Yadav.
Sri Lanka have won two and lost one of their three day-night Tests.
The visitors, headed by Dimuth Karunaratne, struggled mightily with the bat in reply to India’s 574-8 declared in the first Test, being bowled out for 174 and 178 in less than four hours.
“If the opponent disperses or allows you to play, you are playing. However, if the opponent pushes you back, you are not battling,” Russel Arnold, a former Sri Lankan cricketer turned analyst, told cricket.com.
“That is what I see in Sri Lankan cricket, and it is all about attitude.”
The island country is expected to be without fast bowler Lahiru Kumara, who strained his hamstring on day one of the Mohali Test and was unable to bat other than at number 11.“
