SRI LANKA FOCUS
They chased down a target of 388, a record fourth innings score in Sri Lanka, in the Test against Zimbabwe recently and that would have come as a huge relief for them as recent results haven’t really gone their way.
After having been eliminated in the first round of the ICC Champions Trophy and an ODI series loss against Zimbabwe, Angelo Mathews quit as the captain.
Dinesh Chandimal was named as the new skipper of the Test team, but he will miss the first Test of this series due to pneumonia. In Chandimal’s absence, veteran spinner Rangana Herath will lead the side.
Sri Lanka are currently ranked seventh in the ICC Test Rankings and will be looking to put in a good performance in this series which could help them climb up the table.
They will look to draw confidence from the fact that they defeated India in the Champions Trophy last month and will hope to put Virat Kohli and his side under similar pressure here.
INDIA FOCUS
India come into this series with a new head coach with Ravi Shastri taking charge after Anil Kumble chose to step down from the role after the Champions Trophy.
When it comes to Test cricket, India have been in superb form over the last couple of years and enter this series as the number one ranked team in the world.
In fact, India’s ongoing winning run in Tests did begin back in 2015 during their previous tour to Sri Lanka where they defeated the hosts by a 2-1 margin.
Opener KL Rahul, who just returned from a shoulder surgery, will miss the Test due to viral fever. In the absence of regular openers Rahul and Murali Vijay, we are likely to see Abhinav Mukund and Shikhar Dhawan opening the innings for the visitors.
It will be interesting to see if India go in with a five-bowlers strategy or not. If they do, either Kuldeep Yadav or Hardik Pandya will get a game. If not, Rohit Sharma will make his return to the team after having missed the last ten Tests.
DATE, TIME, VENUE INFO
Date: 26-30 July 2017
Time: 08:30 GST, 10:00 local, 04:30 GMT, 10:00 IST
Venue: Galle International Stadium, Galle
WHERE TO WATCH, LIVE STREAMING INFO
TV: Ten Cricket
Full coverage on Sport360.com.
LIKELY SRI LANKA XI: Upul Tharanga, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka, Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Asela Gunaratne, Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath (c), Lahiru Kumara, Nuwan Pradeep.
LIKELY INDIA XI: Abhinav Mukund, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma/Hardik Pandya/Kuldeep Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.