India get yet another prime opportunity to make most of the festive fervour at home as they take on the Lankan tail for the opening Test at the iconic Eden Gardens tomorrow.
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Sri Lanka’s autopsy of an appalling performance at their home bothered them a lot but it did please the Indians for the way they carried out their business formalities.
Given all the battering and beating at the hands of Indians, Sri Lanka are finding out a way to make a brisk statement by the new approach of special pampering makeovers.
Challenging India in India is not that easy. Many teams who came here went empty-handed and this goes to how solid the Indians made earnest attempts to find wins.
Virat Kohli, as usual, will command his boys and give the much-needed freedom to boost their confidence levels only to keep up the tempo to the top-most level.
Also read: When Virat Kohli went up to the TV member and called for help
Murali Vijay’s return is one of the biggest positives for India in the opening slot. Both the Ravis who are not seen in action for quite a long time are also back to action.
Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami will return to the playing XI after been given ample rest and thanks to the experiment and rotational policy.
Ajinkya Rahane who has been in and out of the India squad will make his presence count this time. He also said in the pre-match press conference that their focus is always on the No.1 Test ranking.
On the contrary, Sri Lanka could morally be at the peak and take shelter from the fact that their recent Test record is good as they made a 2-0 sweep over Pakistan.
Rangana Herath looks confident as he is eyeing to win a Test match in India which is one of his dreams to script it in his diaries before calling curtains in the Test career.
India’s Probable XI:
Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.
Sri Lanka’s Probable XI:
Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal (C), Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando.
Date and Time: 16 November 2017, 9:30 am IST.
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Live Telecast: Star Sports 1 (English), Star Sports 3 (Hindi), Hotstar Premium.
