Sri Lanka VS India, 2nd Test

Can Sri Lanka give Lakmal a memorable swansong? © AFP

The Picture

It boggles the mind that even after having the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas, Kumara Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene over the years, the Sri Lankan team has failed to win a solitary test in India. India has been dominant at home and the gulf in class between the two sides could be widely seen in the last game in Mohali. Ravindra Jadeja put up an all round show as he racked up 175 runs and picked up 9 wickets to browbeat Sri Lanka as they lost by an innings and 222 runs. Pathum Nissanka and Niroshan Dickwella were the only bright spots in their team's otherwise dismal performance. Pathum Nissanka though wouldn't be available in Bangalore due to injury and with the Kumara and Chameera ruled out too, it basically kisses Sri Lanka's hopes of levelling the series goodbye. Suranga Lakmal is playing his last game before he hangs up his boots and as always his team will be again heavily dependent on him to deliver the goods if they will have to better their performance from the last game. Their batsmen will have to do the bulk of the scoring and it will be up to both of their openers Dimuth and Lahiru to give them good starts and bat long. India will hope that their star batsman Virat Kohli finds his lost mojo, after all, he returns to his adopted home, Bangalore where the Chinnaswamy faithful will be hoping to see the king smash another century, something that has eluded him for 71 games on the trot. Then there is also the WTC points table and India will need a win to move to fourth place while a loss for Sri Lanka will send them down to the fifth spot, which would be a huge contrast after they started this series as table toppers.

When: 12-16 March 2022, Saturday Onwards

Time:   2:00 P.M (IST)

Where: M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

Team News

Sri Lanka

Pathum Nissanka has been ruled out with a back injury and a fit Kusal Mendis will return to the side in his place. Dushmantha Chameera who was rested for the previous game in anticipation of this encounter has been ruled out citing workload management due to injury. Lahiru Kumara broke down in the last game after sending down just 10.5 overs. With both of them ruled out and Lasith Embuldeniya having found success, the visitors will look to bring Praveen Jayawickrama into the side. Dimuth Karunaratne also confirmed that Chamika Karunaratne will make the team in place of Vishwa Fernando. 

Probable XI: Lahiru Thirimanne, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Embuldeniya, Chamika Karunaratne, Praveen Jayawickrama

India

Axar Patel is back in the squad after recovering from injury and covid 19 and with his man of the match performance in India's last pink ball test, he is all but certain to resume his flourishing test career. Apart from that, the hosts would look to go with the same team. Albeit they haven't ruled out playing a third seamer, that is most unlikely.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel/ Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami

Pitch and Playing Conditions

The pitch wore a dry and barren look and will aid the spinners. Both teams will look to bat in pre-summer conditions in Bengaluru. The stadium is expected to be packed with the KSCA allowing  100% attendance for this game.

Interesting Facts

• Both India and Sri Lanka have played 3 day-night tests apiece and have a similar record of 2 wins and a single loss.