India will be captained by Virat Kohli.Indian cricket team will arrive in the island this evening for their month long tour. The tour gets underway with a three day warm-up game at R. Premadasa Stadium against Sri Lanka Board XI on Thursday.
The tourists then will travel to Galle for the first Test between the countries starting on the 12th August. The second and third Tests will be played in Colombo with P. Sara Oval and Sinhalese Sports Club ground hosting the matches.
The second Test at P. Sara Oval will mark the end of star batsman Kumar Sangakkara’s international career. The prolific batsman was set to retire from all forms of cricket after the ICC Cricket World Cup early this year, but extended his Test career by six months on a request made by then Chairman of Selectors Sanath Jayasuriya.
The 37-year-old stands fifth in the list of top run scorers in Test cricket. His 12,305 runs is the most by a Sri Lankan.
India will be led by prolific run scorer Virat Kohli. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is back in the Test squad. Compared to Indian teams of past, the current squad, especially their batting, is thin on experience.
Fast bowler Dhammika Prasad, spinners Rangana Herath and Tharindu Kaushal, who weren’t part of the Sri Lankan side that played the limited over games are expected to return to the side. Exciting young talent Dushmantha Chameera has recovered from a side strain, but he is unlikely to feature in the first Test in Galle, but instead is expected to feature in the Colombo games.
Wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Chandimal and top order batsman Lahiru Thirimanne, who were surprisingly left out of the T-20 series against Pakistan will also return to the squad.
The series was originally scheduled to be played in India, but on a request made by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) agreed to tour Sri Lanka. The series will provide Sri Lanka a financial boost through television revenue.
India Squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Varun Aaron, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Lokesh Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha (Wicketkeeper), Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay and Umesh Yadav.
Schedule
Aug 6 – Aug 8 – Warm-up game at R. Premadasa Stadium.
Aug 12 – Aug 16 – 1st Test in Galle
Aug 20 – Aug 24 – 2nd Test at P Sara Oval
Aug 28 – Sep 1 – 3rd Test at SSC
