The Men in Blue will take on the Lions in the first Test of a home two-match series, starting February 4 in Mohali. The Test series is the second for India’s 2021-22 home season after beating New Zealand 1-0 in November at the start of the winter.
It is also an integral part of the team’s World Test Championship campaign. Having lost in South Africa 2-1, the Indians are in desperate need of two outright victories and crucial points to keep themselves in contention for the final.
The Test series against Sri Lanka kicks off a new era in Indian cricket with the coming on board of Rohit Sharma as the new full-time Test skipper. Rohit takes over from Virat Kohli, who relinquished his post following a 2-1 defeat against the Proteas in January.
Apart from the change at the helm, India are also set to take the field with a new-look middle-order in the absence of senior pros Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. The veteran duo has been dropped from the squad after a prolonged dip in their returns, which presents an opportunity for the team’s backup options to cement their places.
For Sri Lanka’s inexperienced side as well, it would be an opportunity to compete against a slightly unsettled Indian unit, which will have a new captain and fresh middle-order on task for the Test match in Mohali. Sri Lanka have never previously won a Test in India but competed well on their last trip in 2017, keeping the mighty Indians at bay with only a 1-0 defeat over three Tests.
Key players
Resting the New Zealand series before going out injured from the South Africa tour, Rohit Sharma has missed five successive Tests despite being in the form of his life. The opening batter was tremendous for India in the previous season where he played a critical role in India winning the Test series in Australia, at home against England and enjoying a 2-1 lead in the UK versus the three lions. He will be determined to stamp his authority at the start of his Test captaincy tenure with a big score in Mohali.
Talking of big scores, nobody will be more desperate for one than Virat Kohli in Mohali. Playing his 100th Test match, he will be eyeing a timely end to what has become a worrying drought of centuries for him. It has been 27 months since the player last raised his bat for a hundred at the international arena. Facing a hapless Sri Lankan side at home, the modern-day giant will look to overcome this phase and give his passionate fans something to cherish and remember about his milestone Test.
Making his comeback to Tests after early November is also premier allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, who has now fully overcome his knee injury following a lengthy rehab at the NCA. Before going down with the injury ahead of the second Test against New Zealand, Jadeja had established himself as one of the world’s best Test match allrounders. Since the start of 2017, Jadeja has taken 121 wickets at an average of 25.56, while also averaging 40.81 for 1,347 runs with the bat. He is a key player for India’s Test match game, something that was evident through his absence in South Africa.
An important figure in deciding whether Sri Lanka would compete against India or not will be their captain and longstanding opener Dimuth Karunaratne, who has slowly but surely become one of the world’s best opening batters over the last few years. The composed left-hand batter has struck 2,303 runs at an average of 47 since the start of 2018, with six hundreds and 13 half-centuries.
Prediction
The recent times in Test cricket has thrown up some really surprising results around the world, which shall raise Sri Lanka’s hopes as well. But India start as overwhelming favourites to not only win the Mohali Test but to dominate the two-match series 2-0.
India have been the strongest hosts in Test cricket for over a decade now. Since the start of 2013, India have won 32 of their 40 home Tests, conceding only two. India’s win/loss ratio of 16 is easily the best in the world for home Tests in this period.
Thus, the Indian team would only look to impose their daunting presence on an inexperienced Sri Lankan side with their incredible bowling attack, including two world-class spinners and three terrific pacers, and a slightly unsettled but very talented batting unit where players are extremely hungry for runs.
Sri Lanka have been to India for 20 previous Tests and lost 11 of those, not winning even one. One can never say never, but it will require a lot of things to go right for them to come close to winning one this time as well.
