India have a big possibility to win 3-0: Sourav Ganguly

Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly is very optimistic about India’s chances in their upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka. He feels that the Virat Kohli-led side has every opportunity to register a whitewash win. In a recent interaction, Ganguly spoke at length about the various aspects of the Indian team heading into the tour. The tour is the first assignment for Ravi Shastri as the head coach of the national setup.

Interestingly, Sourav Ganguly was a member of the CAC that had appointed Shastri as the head coach recently. However, he had kept mum over the issue ever since Shastri was finalized as the head coach. In the recent conversation with India Today, Ganguly opened up about the same for the first time. He conceded that Shastri was Kohli’s preferred choice for the coach’s position.

“That’s what Virat Kohli wanted. He’d be happy to have Ravi (Shastri) with him. Wish them all the best. They have two years ahead of them before the World Cup and hope they have a good one,” quoted Sourav Ganguly.

Speaking about the form of the Indian skipper, Ganguly feels that Kohli will be back at scoring runs soon. Albeit, Kohli has been plundering runs in the last month or so, his recent returns in the Test series against Australia were not fruitful. “It’s only a matter of time. He’s (Virat Kohli) a fantastic player and wish him all the best,” said Ganguly.

On bowling permutations

Heading into the game, team India will have selection conundrums. Sourav Ganguly feels that Kuldeep Yadav could well be preferred ahead of Ravindra Jadeja in the match. Kuldeep had bagged a four wicket haul in the warm up game. Also, he feels that Hardik Pandya could well make his Test debut in the Galle Test.

“It will be an interesting to see who’s the second spinner. I won’t be surprised if Ashwin and Kuldeep (Yadav) are the two spinners. Three spinners are possible. Hardik Pandya can play along with Umesh (Yadav) or (Mohammed) Shami. Ashwin, Jadeja and Hardik can all bat. It gives an opportunity to play three spinners. if Virat can win the toss and bat, then three spinners will come into play,” Ganguly mentioned.

On a potential whitewash

Talking about the end result, Sourav cited that the current Sri Lankan team is certainly not the best that they have had in the recent times. Hence, this is a very good opportunity for India to register an emphatic win against the hosts.

“This is not the best Sri Lankan team India will be playing for a while. Even the last one was a stronger one. India are a far superior side on paper and in terms of quality as well. It won’t be that difficult for India to win the series. India are firm favourites. India have a big possibility to win 3-0,” Ganguly conceded.