Preview

India Vs Sri Lanka: The Mohali Test was all about one man, Ravindra Jadeja. He dominated with bat and ball, ensuring that the Sri Lankans could not come anywhere near the Indians during the contest. The series moves to Bangalore now for the pink-ball Test, and this could give India a further advantage as they have a brief idea on how the pink ball plays at home. They will also have Axar Patel in the upcoming Test after the spinner recovered from his shin injury.

Sri Lanka though are struggling with injuries. Pathum Nissanka was one of their better players in the firt India Vs Sri Lanka Test, but can’t play due to a back injury. Lahiru Kumara and Dushmantha Chameera are two others who miss out due to injury. The Test will be Suranga Lakmal’s last as he retires from international Cricket.

Match Details

Match: India Vs Sri Lanka

Date: 3^rd March 2022

Time: 2:30 PM

Venue: Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Weather Report

The weather is clear through the India Vs Sri Lanka Test with no chance of rain.

See Also: Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Captaincy Candidates for 2022 – Cricket Winner

Pitch Report

The pitch is very dry and has little grass covering which is different in day-night Tests as grass is generally left on the surface. Spin is expected early in the game, and batting will get tougher as the game progresses. Batting first is a better option.

India vs Sri Lanka Playing XI

India Playing XI

India: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Mayank Agarwal, 3 Hanuma Vihari, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Axar Patel, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Shami

Sri Lanka playing XI

Sri Lanka: 1 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), 2 Lahiru Thirimanne, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Dhananjaya de Silva, 6 Dinesh Chandimal/Charith Asalanka, 7 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Suranga Lakmal, 10 Lasith Embuldeniya, 11 Praveen Jayawickrama

Key Players

Virat Kohli

The calls for Virat Kohli’s 71st-century increase, and the gap is slowly getting worrisome. For a player who lived on converting fifties to hundreds with ease, the struggle is a huge concern and Virat Kohli will be hoping to get the century out of the way before a gap in international Cricket. He is back in Bangalore, his adopted home, and is playing a pink-ball Test, which is the format in which he scored his last century, and his home fans will be pleased if he can make a century in front of them.

Suranga Lakmal

After carrying the Sri Lankan pace attack with little appreciation for over a decade, Suranga Lakmal is finally into his last Test. He is a skillful cricketer with enough pace and swing to compete, but not enough to scare a batter completely. Suranga Lakmal has a great record in pink-ball Tests, and Sri Lanka will rely heavily on their old seamer once again.

Team News

India has a lot of options to ponder on their bowling combination. A direct choice would be to swap Axar Patel and Jayant Yadav, but with the pink ball around, playing three seamers may be tempting for India.

Sri Lanka confirmed that Chamika Karunaratne comes in for Vishwa Fernando, while Kusal Mendis and Praveen Jayawickrama could come in for the injured Kumara and Nissanka. Dinesh Chandimal could also make way for Charith Asalanka, who has been in good form.

India Vs Sri Lanka Match Tips

With India nearly unbeatable at home and a pink-ball Test ahead of them, the Test should go through rather smoothly for the Indians as they have a strong advantage.

Match Prediction: India will win the match.