Coming from a high of a hat-trick of series sweep, Men in Blue now take on Sri Lanka in the first Test in Mohali as captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first on Friday. This Test match has its own significance as it marks Virat Kohli's 100th match in the longest format and also Rohit Sharma's debut as India's Test captain.
As far as India's playing XI is concerned, Shubman Gill has been kept out as Hanuma Vihari, Shreyas Iyer and Jayant Yadav have been included in the side.
"We are going to bat first. Similar Indian conditions, so it's important for us to put runs on the board and take it from there. It is a huge honour to be captaining India and be part of the list. It is something I never dreamt of. It has been quite buzzing. We know it is a special occasion. Not many people go on to play 100 Tests, and Virat has been looking forward to this game. We are playing three spinners and two seamers," skipper Rohit Sharma said before the match.
"We wanted to bat first as well. We are playing three seamers, but it is a good wicket to bat on. We have played 300 Tests but we never won in India. We have a good team, with the senior and junior combinations and we are prepared. We are going in with three seamers and two spinners," Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne said.
After the clean sweep in T20I, India will aim for another whitewash in the two-match Test series.
On the other hand, the Lankan batting line-up depends heavily on skipper Dimuth Karunaratne along with old guards Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews, both well past their prime. How well they handle Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on a pitch that will be dry after being baked by sunshine is a million dollar question.
Meanwhile, If Virat Kohli manages to score 38 runs in this Test, he will become the 14th-fastest to the mark of 8000 Test runs. He will be the 29th overall to get there.
Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin is set to go past Richard Hadlee, Rangana Herath, Kapil Dev and Dale Steyn to become the eighth-highest wicket-taker of all time. Kapil, who is four wickets ahead of Ashwin's 430, is India's second-highest wicket-taker.
Pitch report
It looks a little different, but a good one overall. There are a lot of cracks and they are very wide. But the groundsman has said that they won't open up. The spinners will like it. There is a bit of grass in the back of a length area, which makes this a good Test pitch. You have got to win the toss and bat big.
India's Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav
Sri Lanka's Playing XI: Dimuth Karunaratne(c), Lahiru Thirimanne, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella(w), Suranga Lakmal, Vishwa Fernando, Lasith Embuldeniya, Lahiru Kumara
