India’s Test tours of Sri Lanka have tended to come in fits and starts over the last quarter of a century. A long gap after the 2001 series was followed by outings in 2008 and 2010; then came two tours in three years, between 2015 and 2017, both of which India won handsomely.
Now, nine years after their last dance in the Emerald Isle, India are hopeful that this latest two-Test series, starting on Saturday at the beautiful Galle International Stadium, will herald their resurgence in the five-day game. It will mark the 50th Test at this ground, making it the first centre in Asia to achieve that milestone.
Just four wins in nine World Test Championship outings have left India’s hopes of reaching a third final in four cycles hanging by a slender thread. Any slip-ups, and their campaign would have effectively ended even before they round off their league engagements with a five-match home showdown early next year against Australia. India need seven victories from their nine remaining fixtures to not have to rely on other results going their way, and Sri Lanka will be the ideal place to breathe new life into a clearly floundering campaign.
As they target a hat-trick of series successes in Sri Lanka, India know they will need so many things to go their way, not least the toss on Saturday on what is predicted to start out as a good batting surface before bringing spin into play. Already short on Test experience in Sri Lanka, India were dealt the unkindest cut 10 days back when Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out with an impact injury to his left knee.
Bumrah hasn’t played a Test here previously — he only debuted in January 2018 — but his genius is a bank Shubman Gill would have been desperately hoping for. Instead, he will now helm a side from which only his deputy KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav have prior taste of Test cricket in this part of the world. For all the touted similarities in conditions between the two nations, playing here is vastly different from relying on home comfort. India have been hard at work since arriving in this country 10 days ago, but if they are even slightly off the boil, they will be mercilessly punished by the hosts, who too have lost the seasoned Kusal Mendis and punishing opener Pathum Nissanka to injuries.