India will be heavy favorites to maintain their unbeaten home record in pink-ball Tests, with new captain Rohit Sharma aiming for a clean sweep of Sri Lanka in the second Test. Which begins on Saturday.
The hosts thrashed Sri Lanka in three days in Mohali to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. And the visitors must regroup quickly in Bangalore under the lights.
Ravindra Jadeja, the world’s top-ranked all-rounder. Hit an unbeaten 175 and took nine wickets to stand out in Rohit’s first Test since taking over as captain in all formats from Virat Kohli earlier this year.
“We all know how tactically strong and capable Rohit is. However, I noticed a lot of human elements in the way he led the side “Ravichandran Ashwin, off-spinner, stated this week.
“He was watching for anyone in the team, how everyone would feel. How everyone’s confidence is important for the engine room to function.”
Rohit described the hosts’ performance as “near-perfect.”
India was the last of the major Test teams to play a five-day game under lights. Defeating Bangladesh in just over two days in Kolkata in 2019.
In the Pink Ball 2nd Test, Rohit Sharma leads India to a series sweep over Sri Lanka.
However, at the Adelaide Oval in December 2020, Australia defeated Kohli’s side for 36 runs, India’s lowest Test total.
In February of last year, the team returned to winning ways in a floodlit Test. Thrashing England in two days at the world’s largest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.
“Not fighting back”
India will be expect to defeat Sri Lanka once more, but Ashwin warn that day-night Tests can be unpredictable.
“It’s difficult to prepare for a pink-ball Test because you don’t know what to expect,” he said on the website of India’s Board of Control for Cricket.
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“We’ve played three pink-ball Tests so far, and each one has taught us something new.”
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“The light will also play a role… There are a lot of variables at play in this game, but we’ll just rely on our experience from the previous game. I’m looking forward to the challenge, and I’m hoping the spinners will have a say in it.”
Left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who took 11 wickets in the win over England, could make the XI at Bangalore’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium after being name in place of Kuldeep Yadav.
In three day-night Tests, Sri Lanka has won two and lost one.
The tourists, led by Dimuth Karunaratne, were bowl out for 174 and 178 in less than four sessions in response to India’s 574-8 declare in the first Test.
“You are playing if the opposition falls away or gives you an opportunity to play. However, if the opponent pushes you back, you are not fighting back “Russel Arnold, a former Sri Lankan cricketer turned commentator, told cricket.com.
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