Follow UsWe always knew that the transition was going to be smooth when Rohit Sharma was appointed as India’s skipper in the white-ball formats, but watching him captain a Test side is not something we are used to. The 34-year-old is a proven leader in white-ball cricket, having led Mumbai Indians to five Indian Premier League titles.
In fact, India haven’t lost a single game ever since Rohit was given the full-time captaincy. The Men in Blue whitewashed West Indies in a three-match ODI series in early February and also have 3-0 wins over New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka in the shortest format of the game.
India played some of their best red-ball cricket under Virat Kohli and the onus will now be on Rohit to keep the team's juggernaut rolling, especially at home, where they haven’t lost a single series since their 2-1 defeat against England in 2012. The opening Test of the two-match series against Sri Lanka, starting on Friday (March 4) in Mohali, is going to be a memorable outing for Kohli. India's former and most successful Test captain is set to become the 12th Indian player to feature in 100 Tests and Kohli would be eager to return back to form and make this occasion even more special.
Can Kohli make his 100th Test even more memorable?
The 33-year-old batting maestro will become only the 71st player in the history of cricket to feature in 100 Tests and couldn’t have asked for a better occasion to score his 71st international century. Only nine players have scored a century in their 100th Test, with England captain Joe Root (218 v India in Chennai in 2021) being the most recent one. Make no mistake, Kohli might not have scored a century since 2019 but has played some crucial knocks in challenging conditions. The right-hander crafted a couple of fifties against England in Chennai where spinners were picking wickets for fun and then also got that 79 against South Africa in Cape Town earlier this year.
Despite all that, an average of 28.15 in his last 15 Tests doesn’t do justice to a batter of Kohli’s caliber. The team management would want him to return to his best and Kohli couldn’t have asked for a better opponent. In nine Tests against Sri Lanka, Kohli has amassed 1004 runs at a stunning average of 77.23 - his second-best against any opponent in this format. On top of that, Kohli has also smoked five centuries in 15 innings against Sri Lanka. He is not someone who would be too worried about his century but instead would be focusing on helping India win the game.
Also read - A Virat Kohli hundred: Tests on and off the field
Vihari, Gill, Iyer fighting for two middle-order spots
It’s been more than 10 years since India have played a Test with neither Cheteshwar Pujara nor Ajinkya Rahane. The two senior batters were left out of the squad for the Sri Lanka series, leaving the No. 3 and 5 spots up for grabs. Rohit, Mayank Agarwal, Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja are going to take the remaining five spots in the top-seven, while Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer will have to battle it out for those two remaining slots.
The pecking order puts Gill and Vihari ahead of Iyer. The equation is not that simple though. Vihari was ignored for the home Tests against New Zealand. Iyer pounced on his chance with a debut ton. The reasoning was that Vihari had to be sent early to South Africa (with India A) to get used to the conditions.
Consequently, Iyer was benched in South Africa at expense of the seniors returning to lend the team a full-strength look. When Kohli skipped the second Test, Vihari was preferred over Iyer to step in. He didn’t score a hundred but his unbeaten 40 was a testament to his class, underlining him as a natural successor to Pujara and Rahane.
Also read - India's problem of plenty ahead of Mohali Test
Vihari is due the longest among the three names. Since his debut in 2018, he has played only 13 Tests, only one at home. However, what works for Iyer is his recent form - an average of 50.5 in his two Tests thus far and a record-breaking T20I series against Sri Lanka. What India could do is slot Vihari at No. 3 because the 28-year-old has the technique and temperament to do what Pujara did for India for so many years. And then, one of Iyer or Gill could bat at No. 5.
The latter has played 44 of his 57 first-class innings as an opener but has scored lots of runs for India A batting in the middle-order. Just like Iyer, Gill too is superb against spinners and one of these two could easily ace that No. 5 spot.
Welcome back, Jadeja!
The star allrounder, who missed the second Test against New Zealand at home and the South Africa tour due to a knee injury, made his much-awaited return in the T20I series against Sri Lanka and is now set to feature in the Test series as well. The 33-year-old is one of the four Indian players after Rohit, Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah who is a certain starter in all three formats. Batting in the lower-middle order, the left-hander has an average of over 40 since 2017. And then, with his left-arm spin, Jadeja has an average of close to 25 in this period.
It has been a while since India played a Test at home with less than three spinners. For the sake of variety, Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav seem to be straightforward picks. R Ashwin, if fit, is an automatic choice over Jayant Yadav. However, Kuldeep has played only one Test since the New Year's Test against Australia in 2019, bowling a combined12.2 overs.
India have not necessarily stressed on their spinners to be different from each other. Ashwin and Washington Sundar have played together over the last two years, so have Jadeja and Axar Patel. Hence, it will be interesting to see who India go with as their third spinner. In the pace department, it won’t come as a huge surprise if India decide to rest one of Mohammed Shami or Jasprit Bumrah and go with Mohammed Siraj as their workhorse.
Sri Lankan batters could pose some threat
Sri Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Pathum Nissanka and Niroshan Dickwella have all been amongst runs and could put some pressure on the Indian bowling attack. Sri Lanka’s numbers at the top, since the start of 2021, are the best in Test cricket. While not only do their openers average 55.1 runs/wicket, they also bat 110.3 deliveries before getting out. Karunaratne is one of the best Test openers in world cricket and is the second-highest run-scorer in this format since 2021. Nissanka opened in the absence of Thirimanne, but now that the experienced left-hander is back, the young batter is likely to slot in at No. 3.
Also read - Sri Lanka with an aim to spring an Indian surprise
In the middle-order, the visitors have de Silva and Mathews. Since 2020, de Silva has averaged close to 65, which moves up to almost 80 against spinners. Not just that, against spin, the right-hander only gets dismissed once in 142.4 deliveries. The onus will be on him and Mathews to do the majority of the scoring in the middle-order, while someone like Dickwella too could make an impact. Sri Lanka have never won a Test in India but this team surely has all the ingredients, especially in the batting department, to challenge Rohit and his men in their own backyard.
Probable XIs
India - Rohit Sharma (c), Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill/Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami/Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj.
Sri Lanka - Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lahiru Thirimanne, Pathum Nissanka, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Lasith Embuldeniya, Praveen Jayawickrama, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera/Lahiru Kumara.