IND vs SL Pink Ball Test: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and team reached Bengaluru on Wednesday ahead of the 2nd Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium starting March 12. The 2nd match against Sri Lanka will be a Day-Night affair pink-ball Test. Follow India vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test Live Updates on InsideSport.IN.
After wrapping up the 1st Test against Sri Lanka within three days, winning the match by an innings and 222 runs, Rohit Sharma & Co stayed back in Mohali. On Tuesday, they had a full-fledged practice with the pink SG ball in Mohali.
IND vs SL Pink Ball Test: Rohit Sharma & Co reach Bengaluru ahead of Day-Night Test against Sri Lanka – Check pics
Ready to take off! pic.twitter.com/oKkvQjZIK8
— Mayank Agarwal (@mayankcricket) March 9, 2022
While Rohit Sharma & Ravindra Jadeja were not seen at the practice, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Axar Patel and others had full nets session.
IND vs SL Pink Ball Test: Rohit Sharma & Co reach Bengaluru ahead of Day-Night Test against Sri Lanka – Check pics
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IND vs SL Pink Ball Test: Rohit Sharma & Co reach Bengaluru ahead of Day-Night Test against Sri Lanka – Check pics
India in Pink Ball Tests:
- India vs Bangladesh – Kolkata, 2019: India won by an innings and 46 runs
- Australia vs India – Adelaide, 2020: Australia won by 8 wickets
- India vs England – Ahmedabad, 2021: India won by 10 wickets
Team India Off to Bangalore ahead of Pink Ball Test against Sri Lanka#INDvSL #INDvsSL pic.twitter.com/wDMiXuOMJU
— Cricket Mirror (@cricket_mirror7) March 9, 2022
Target World No 1: Rohit Sharma will be looking to wrap up the series with another win and press for the World No 1 spot. If India win the match and Australia lose their match against Pakistan in the 2nd Test, Rohit Sharma & Co will reclaim the top spot in ICC Test Team Rankings.
Currently, India are placed second on ICC Test Team Rankings with 116 points while Australia are top with 119 points.
IND vs SL Pink Ball Test: Rohit Sharma & Co reach Bengaluru ahead of Day-Night Test against Sri Lanka – Check pics
IND vs SL Pink Ball Test: Rohit Sharma & Co reach Bengaluru ahead of Day-Night Test against Sri Lanka – Check pics
Rohit Sharma’s selection headache – Despite India’s facile victory in the first Test, Rohit Sharma will have a selection headache with Axar Patel also making a comeback.
In the two Pink Ball Tests in India, India have had emphatic wins. However, the bowling combinations in both matches tell a different story. If Indian pacers managed 19 wickets against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens in 2019, in Ahmedabad against England, pacers bagged 28 wickets out of 30. Hence, the confusion seems obvious on who should India go with Axar Patel or Mohammed Siraj.
Bengaluru pitch: This will be the first Pink Ball Test in Bengaluru with the pink SG ball working in a different manner than the red cherry. As Bengaluru pitches have historically favoured batsmen on the first three days and then spinners in the last two, it could continue with the tradition. But the hard lacquer on the pink SG ball could be the differentiator.
India’s squad for the 2nd Test: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), KS Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, R. Ashwin, Saurabh Kumar, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohd. Shami, Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Axar Patel
IND vs SL Pink Ball Test: Rohit Sharma & Co reach Bengaluru ahead of Day-Night Test against Sri Lanka – Check pics