By: Drcricket7 Staff
Team India is on a verge of history if they can beat Sri Lanka in the ongoing three-match Test series. With the series locked at one game apiece, the 3rd Test match is slightly tilted towards India in terms of psychological advantage.
After having lost the opening Test match at Galle from a winning position, India came back into the second to blank Sri Lanka in all departments of the game. So, the 3rd Test match is the ultimate opportunity for Virat and his men to achieve, which the previous teams couldn’t for last 22 years.
After winning the first Test as a captain at the P Sara Oval, Kohli seems to be the hungriest of the lot. If his team can thrash the hosts by 278 runs in the second Test, there can be any reason to believe why Indian can’t repeat their performance.
Yes, before the first ball is bowled at the Sinhalese sports club on Friday, both India and Sri Lanka will try to form the best combination for one last time. For Sri Lanka, this Test match will also mark the beginning of a new era after the retirement of batting legend Kumar Sangakkara.
Like India, this Sri Lanka team also lacks plenty of experience. But that is how it goes. Perhaps, captain Angelo Mathews and Rangana Herath are the most experienced players in the team.
The hosts are also disturbed for not giving a winning farewell to Sangakkara. “It really pains me that we could not give him a good farewell, but I promised him that we will play the next game well and try to win the series for him,” Mathews was quoted as saying in the media.
As far as the Indians are concerned, they could be slightly worried because of not getting the services of Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and Wriddhiman Saha. They are all nursing injuries and ruled out of the series.
All eyes will be on Cheteshwar Pujara, who is supposed to open the innings with KL Rahul. Wicketkeeper batsman Naman Ojha who replaced an injured Saha, could come in the playing XI as well.
Still, India will have to largely depend on R Ashwin to do the tricks. Unlike in the past, Ashwin can take a lot of solace that his other spin partner Amit Mishra is also doing exceedingly well for India.
Together they are a solid unit and shared 14 of the 20 wickets in their last Test outing. It remains to be seen how many do they manage to claim in the third Test.
