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Advantage Team India
India would look to emulate their recent success against Sri Lanka and go into the forthcoming South Africa tour brimming with confidence when the Asian rivals meet in the first of the three-Test here at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.
Kolkata: India would look to emulate their recent success against Sri Lanka and go into the forthcoming South Africa tour brimming with confidence when the Asian rivals meet in the first of the three-Test here at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.
Not long ago in August, Sri Lanka were annihilated 9-0 across all formats in their own den by a ruthless India led by their aggressive captain Virat Kohli.
Since then, the men in blue have won limited overs series against Australia and New Zealand at home, while Sei Lanka -- still in transition after the retirements of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara -- triumphed 2-0 over Pakistan in Tests only to lose five One Day Internationals and three T20s against the same opposition.
For a start, skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane will look to get back amongst runs. Both ace batters practised a lot of reverse and paddle sweeps at the nets in the build-up to the Test.
Kohli, who has been dismissed trying to drive on the front foot of late and playing away from his body, even got the handle of his bat trimmed during nets on Monday to rectify his drive.
Rahane, on the same day, was seen fine tuning his reverse-swep against chinaman Kuldeep Yadav square and fine of the wicket, a weapon the right-hander might use against veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath.
It goes without saying that Herath will be skipper Dinesh Chandimal's go-to man besides Angelo Mathews who is making a comeback. Out of the Pakistan series with a calf injury, the former skipper looked good for his 54 retired in the warm-up game against the Board President's XI.
Sri Lanka's bowling did not look good against a lowly Board President's side shorn of quality domestic players due to the ongoing Ranji Trophy.
In their batting, opener Dimuth Karunarate has been among runs in Pakistan (306 runs in 4 innings).
Squads: India: Virat Kohli (Captain), KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma;
Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Lahiru Thirimanne, Niroshan Dickwella (wicket-keeper), Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Gamage, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Dasun Shanaka and Roshen Silva.
