Team India’s first day in the Emerald Island has not quite been the way they would have expected it to be. After the team’s short flight from Chennai on Monday, Captain Virat Kohli and his boys were really looking forward to spending some quality time in the nets to start their preparations for the three-match Test series. Unfortunately, those plans had to be put on hold with the rain playing spoilsport. Nevertheless, the batsmen, in particular, made the most of the indoor facility at the National Cricket Club (NCC) while the bowlers stayed at the hotel for their assessments and gym sessions with the newly appointed Physiotherapist Patrick Farhart and trainer Shankar Basu.
The mood in the camp though is not as dull as the dark clouds over Sri Lanka. Everyone looks quite excited to play their first full series under their Test captain Kohli. This series in Sri Lanka will give them enough time to understand and evaluate their short term and long term goals as a group in the longest format of the game.
Kohli who is still relatively new in this role, has so far made it clear that he is a fan of playing five bowlers and picking up 20 wickets in a Test match is of utmost importance. For that, he has called for more responsibility and commitment from his bowlers, who he feels will execute the plans laid out by the team management. To give sufficient cushion to the bowlers, the batsmen too need to make their bat do the talking and together the team would need to work like a cohesive Test unit. India have a wealth of resources within the team; be it the competition for the opening slot among KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay who have all been amongst runs; or the three experienced spinners and a hungry pace bowling department looking to make a mark in the series.
What will be the permutations and combinations that Kohli would go ahead with, is still left to be seen. The lone three-day practice game against Sri Lanka Board’s XI will be the only opportunity for the team to tinker and try out a few team combinations before the first Test starts in Galle on the 12th of August.
