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Former Sri Lankan all-rounder Farveez Maharoof believes this is the hosts' best chance of beating India at home in a Test series. Maharoof was disappointed with the way Sri Lanka played on West Indies tour, losing the series 1-0. While he feels that Sri Lanka will miss players like Angelo Mathews' services, he backs the Dhananjaya de Silva-led side to end their drought of a series win against two-time World Test Championship finalists.
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Maharoof pointed out that India are not heading into the series with full strength and plenty of chinks in the armour which were exposed in the series defeat to South Africa last year.
“I think they got to be more consistent. The biggest disappointment for me was how they faced such soft dismissals in that Antigua Test,” Maharoof said as quoted by the ANI, recalling the recent defeat by an innings on the Caribbean soil.
"I would like to see more fight, more grit and more consistency from the top order. Sri Lanka will miss the likes of Angelo Mathews for example, but there is enough talent coming through. The likes of Kamindu Mendis is probably going to bat at four, and Dhananjaya is the skipper. This is their best chance to beat India at home because not on many occasions Sri Lanka has beaten India. He can go into record books as a captain by beating India, as they are also heading into the series with a lot of questions after losing to South Africa at home," he added.
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Maharoof backs Chandimal
The 41-year-old wants Sri Lanka to be more consistent. The former Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) teammate of India’s current head coach Gautam Gambhir, considers veteran batter Dinesh Chandimal’s role crucial in the series. 36-year-old Chandimal averages 50 against India from eight Tests, scoring 750 runs, including two centuries and three half-centuries.
He had scored a century against India in the drawn Delhi Test in 2017. He had also scored a century in Sri Lanka's previous Test victory over India in Galle. He scored 59 and 162 not out as Sri Lanka beat India by 63 runs. Maharoof wants Chandimal to bat at no.3 in the series.
India vs Sri Lanka Test series squads -
India Test squad - Shubman Gill (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain and Auqib Nabi.
Sri Lanka are yet to announce their squad for Test series against India. Reportedly, they are yet to finalise an injured Kusal Mendis’ replacement. Niroshan Dickwella may make a comeback to the squad.
Where are India, Sri Lanka in WTC 2025-27 standings?
India are placed fifth on the table with four wins, as many defeats and a drawn Test. Their win percentage is 48.15. The unsuccessful tour of West Indies led to Sri Lanka slipping to the sixth spot. They have one win, one loss and two draws in the current cycle so far. Their win percentage is 41.67.
India vs Sri Lanka head-to-head
India and Sri Lanka have locked horns 46 times in Test cricket. India have 22 wins, lost seven whereas 22 ended in a draw. The last time Sri Lanka won a Test against India was in Galle in 2015. India have won the last four Test series against Sri Lanka. Before that, the 2010 Test series was drawn. India's previous Test series defeat was in 2008. Sri Lanka have three Test series wins against India so far.
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