Sri Lanka can trouble India on one condition, says Gautam Gambhir

Sri Lanka will face the No. 1 Test side India in the 1st Test of the long tour on 26th July at Galle. The two teams will face each other in a 3-match Test series followed by 5 ODIs and one T20 match. On their previous meeting at Galle, the hosts won the game with a good bowling performance in the second innings of the match but lost the series 2-1.

Former Delhi skipper Gautam Gambhir felt that the hosts have the slightest of the chance to pinch ahead of team India in the tour. The opener felt that the Lankans could compete with the visitors only on one condition. He stated that the hosts will have to prepare favorable pitches for their spinners to trouble the mighty Indian batting order.

India start as favorites

The opener considers his team as favorites in the series after a successful tour in the Caribbean, whereas the hosts recently suffered a defeat against the hands of a below-ranked Zimbabwe team in the ODI series 3-2 in Sri Lanka. “Obviously, India starts as favorites because they are the world number 1 and Sri Lanka, the way they have played, and they don’t have the bowling attack to trouble India. The only way Sri Lanka can trouble India is to prepare wickets which work for their bowlers,” Gambhir told PTI.

“The only way Sri Lanka can compete is if they can manage to get 20 wickets and to do that they need to have pitches in their favour,” Gambhir added.

Format change, not a problem

The Indian team has played a lot of limited-overs cricket in the past few months. The last time they donned the whites was against Australia in the 4-match Test series in March in India. After this, Indian players played the Indian Premier League (IPL) followed by the ICC Champions Trophy in England and Wales and the Caribbean tour that consisted of 5 ODIs and one T20 match. And whereas, the hosts recently won the single Test match series against Zimbabwe by chasing a mammoth total in the second innings of the match.

“Even Sri Lanka played the Champions Trophy; they only had one Test match against Zimbabwe that is how international cricket is now. You need to get mentally ready to get used to different formats,” Gautam Gambhir said.

“It is always good to win against any opposition but you can’t compare Zimbabwe to India. India will be a completely different challenge. It will be far difficult,” he added.

Opening Combination

The Men in Blue have tried a number of opening combinations in the different formats of the game in recent years. In the Sri Lanka tour, India has 3 openers for the two opening slots- Left-hander Shikhar Dhawan, right-hander KL Rahul and left-handed batsman Abhinav Mukund. Dhawan was drafted into the side in place of injured first choice opener Murali Vijay.

“Openers are always important in any format, not only in Test cricket but in ODIs and T20s, the platform set by openers is important, it gives middle order liberty to go and play the way they want to,” said Gambhir.