Venue: Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Ground, Mohali, Chandigarh
Time: 9:30 AM IST
Average score at venue (1st inns): NA
Win percentage while batting first: NA
Pitch conditions:
- The pitch at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) ground is believed to be a balanced surface, whose behaviour in this game could be heavily influenced by the current climate. With the winter season still prevailing in the north of India, the pitch can provide assistance to bowlers at the start as well as at the end of play, while the afternoons will have the sun baking the surface, providing the batsmen with a chance to have their say.
- The PCA ground in Mohali is one of the biggest venues in terms of playing area on a field in the country, and the venue is also known for producing pitches for fast bowlers rather than spinners, which is usually the case with other venues.
Weather prediction:
The opening day of the first Test match between India and Sri Lanka will be partly cloudy in Mohali, with the temperature hitting a high of 26°C. The fourth and the fifth the days of the Test — provided the contest lasts that long — will be the hottest with 28 and 29°C temperature expected. The first three days of the match will have humidity clocking over 75%.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD (overall):
Matches played: 44
India won: 20
Sri Lanka won: 7
Draw: 17
In India:
Matches played: 20
India won: 11
Sri Lanka won: 0
Draw: 9
Top 3 players from India: Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin
Top 3 players from Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Lasith Embuldeniya
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from India: Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, V Kohlii
Top 5 players from Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Lasith Embuldeniya, Praveen Jayawickrama, Angelo Mathews
Q & A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
India and Sri Lanka have exciting bowling lineups with plenty of spin bowlers to chose from. While India have the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and the uncapped Saurabh Kumar to pick from, Sri Lanka will be pinning their hopes on left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya for a strong performance in the company of Jeffrey Vandersay, Suranga Lakmal, Praveen Jayawickrama and Viswha Fernando, to name a few. The batsmen should enjoy their time in the middle provided there is enough application from their end, but at the same time, it will be vital to balance out every aspect of making a playing XI in terms of batting and bowling, with more emphasis must be given to fast bowlers given that Mohali is a venue which is expected to support the pacers.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
There should be no doubt that India are the stronger side among the two teams for the upcoming two-match Test series and should have more players featuring in the playing XI for fantasy cricket. In the batting department, India have heavyweights R Sharma and V Kohlii along with young and promising players such as Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant. India's fast bowling attack has been top notch in red-ball cricket with the pair of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami causing a lot of damage with Mohammed Siraj in tow.
MORE INFORMATION: This is a series that provides India an opportunity to drive home the advantage of playing in favourable conditions and maximising their returns as far as their standing in the World Test Championship is concerned. India will be making a new start under R Sharma and a lot of expectations will be there on the team to come good, after their disappointing display, particularly with the bat, in South Africa. The first Test at Mohali is going to be a historic one for Indian cricket as V Kohlii is set for his 100th match for the country and is also on the brink of a few records with the bat. The former India captain needs another 38 runs to complete his 8,000 runs in Test cricket, an ocassion that has forced the Indian cricket board to allow spectators inside the PCA Stadium to witness the historic moment.
Players’ form: It is an extremely vital series as far as Indian batting is concerned. The hosts are without two of their most experienced batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, who were dropped from the squad after a string of ordinary performances that lasted several years. The absence of Pujara and Rahane has opened up a few important batting slots and there are the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill and Hanuma Vihari competing for these positions. Among other batsmen, both senior pros and Rohit and Kohlii have not been about big runs for a while now, but this series promises them a perfect platform to end the barren run of big scores. On the other hand, Sri Lanka will be hopeful that their captain Dimuth Karunaratne and opening batsman Lahiru Thirimanne continue to make big runs.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
Likely XIs:
INDIA: R Sharma (c), Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hanuma Vihari, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
SRI LANKA: Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lahiru Thirimanne, Pathum Nissanka, Angelo Mathews, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Suranga Lakmal, Vishwa Fernando, Lasith Embuldeniya, Jeffrey Vandersay/Praveen Jayawickrama.
FANTASY XI: R Sharma, Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Shreyas Iyer, V Kohlii (c), Charith Asalanka,, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Lasith Embuldeniya.
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India set for new era under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in V Kohlii's 100th Test
Indian cricket team is set to make a new start under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma as they seek revival of their campaign in the World Test Championship 2021-23, with a two-match series at home against Sri Lanka.
The bilateral affair begins with the first Test to be played at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) ground in Mohali from Friday, which also happens to be the 100th match for former captain V Kohlii, who is now just 38 runs away from completing 8,000 Test runs for India.
The PCA Stadium in Mohali is hosting a Test match for the first time since 2016. The venue is known to be favourable for the fast bowlers, since it carries the reputation of producing fastest pitches compared to all venues in India.
However, in a series between two Asian sides, spinners are expected to play a bigger role compared to the fast bowlers as both India and Sri Lanka have plenty of options in the spin ranks to pick from.
While Sri Lanka will look up to their left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya to produce magical spells like he did in the year 2021, whereas India will be banking on the pair of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin to wreak havoc on yet another visiting side. India are without the services of Akshar Patel, who has not yet recovered from coronavirus infection and is missing the Test series as well, while working on his recovery and recuperation at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore in the company of KL Rahul (hamstring injury).
In the batting department, India have a three-pronged fight for the spots that have opened up following the exit of Pujara and Rahane. The likes of Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill and experienced Hanuma Vihari are all competing for the slots No 3 and 5, assuming that the best batsman in the side, Kohlii will continue to bat at No 4.
In the absence of Rahul, Mayank Agrawal will continue to partner with India captain R Sharma, who is leading the team for the first time in red-ball cricket in his career. This also marks the start of India's search for their long-term captain in red-ball cricket with players such as Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and Rahul — who is missing the Test series after sitting out from the T20Is which India won 3-0 — being the frontrunners for the longer run.
Sri Lanka have not played any Test cricket this year and they are expected to be a little rusty, also given that the island nation team has not had a great time in the conventional format last year. Sri Lanka lost against England famously at home in a series wherein their spinner Embuldeniya fought hard with the ball but their batsmen could not do enough.
Nevertheless, amid the ruins were Karunaratne and Thirimanne who had a great time for Sri Lanka with the bat in the year 2021. But the challenge to get runs against this Indian bowling attack, which has proven to be relentless irrespective of pitches and situations, will be a humongous task. This is where the presence of experienced campaigners in Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal should come to Sri Lanka's rescue.
