India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test Day 1: IND face SL in Galle in their 600th Test match. (CREIMAS)
KL Rahul 77(162) and Devdutt Padikkal 84(122) put on half-centuries for India at Tea on Day 1, taking the visitors to 101/1. Earlier, Indian skipper Shubman Gill won the toss and opted to bat first against Sri Lankan skipper Dhananjaya De Silva. The odds are placed firmly against their recent record. Even if Shubman Gill’s India are taking on a depleted Sri Lankan side in the opening Test at the iconic Galle Stadium, which is hosting a milestone 50th Test, the recent horrors on home soil against spin will continue to weigh on their minds.
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A three-day practice game had instilled some confidence last week, but the mercurial Galle venue could probe India’s underlying weaknesses against spin, the true confidence of their batters against the flight, dip and turn from Galle phenoms, Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis.
The hopes of the bowling attack will be firmly placed on veteran spin legend Ravindra Jadeja, deceiving time and his own contemporaries. There are bankable assistants in Kuldeep Yadav and Manav Suthar, but the bigger question throughout the tour will be how India hold their shape with the bat.
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Heading into Saturday’s opening Test, India’s primary challenge may not be the opposition, but the pitch itself. Facing an injury-hit batting lineup unlikely to post massive totals against a potent Indian attack, fans have plenty of reasons to feel confident. However, if the surface favors spin with unpredictable turn and bounce, India’s own well-documented struggles against quality tweakers could quickly resurrect familiar ghosts. READ MORE
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