As India gear up to take on Sri Lanka in the two-match Test series at home, it will be like the eye of the storm, a period of calm in what has been a tempestuous time for Indian cricket in the recent past, and is likely to be so again, soon. While the past was more off the field, with the massive controversies surrounding the axing and quitting of captaincy of Virat Kohli, the selectors’ usual gaffes, the normally reticent Wriddhiman Saha’s breaking of silence about his retirement, as well as his spat with a certain journalist, that became the talk of cricket town.
The other side of the storm, approaching rapidly after the Test series, will be the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season, coming with 10 teams and a new playing format. Then there are more stormy clouds, with the ICC T20 World Cup on the horizon.
Thankfully, however, those storms will be more on the field. Or at least one hopes so.
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So, back to the Test series. A part of the ICC Test Championship, the two matches are at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali from Friday till March 8 and then the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru from March 12-16, a day-night affair.
While it is always a relief to see Test matches in these times of T20s, one wonders if these two games will really be that competitive. With all due respect to the Sri Lankans, India seem to be holding most of the cards. The islanders’ performances in the current series have been moderate at best in the limited-overs format, so to assume that they will be consistently good over five days looks a little optimistic.
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They are a side in a flux, still negotiating the retirements of giants of the past and not quite being able to find the replacements.
A total of 44 Tests between the teams since 1985 have yet to see a Sri Lankan win in India. Even away, India still hold a 9-7 record, and those seven matches come largely in the days of Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva, Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.
So, Mohali and Bengaluru may not quite be the place where history will change radically.
As for India, the biggest this being discussed is Virat Kohli’s 100th Test. The former India captain has been waiting for some good news for quite a while now (read, a triple-figure score), and what better than getting a 100 in the 100th?
Does that add some pressure? For sure, especially since Kohli seemingly is still not quite at terms with his rather unceremonious exit as skipper.
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But irrespective of whether he succeeds or not, it would be stretch to imagine that India won’t win the Test series. New Test captain Rohit Sharma and his deputy Jasprit Bumrah go in with a collection of tried and tested and some raw talent, who would be in a happy place, come Friday morning.
Test squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-capt), Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Hanuma Vihari, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Priyank Panchal, K.S. Bharath, Saurabh Kumar.
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Dhananjaya de Silva (vice-capt), Charith Asalanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella, Lasith Embuldeniya, Vishwa Fernando, Praveen Jayawickrama, Chamika Karunaratne, Lahiru Kumara, Suranga Lakmal, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay.
