Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. India made a single change in the side for the pink-ball Test. Fit-again Axar Patel replaced Jayant Yadav in the side. Yadav was not able to take a wicket in the previous Test in Mohali where Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin dominated. On the other hand, Patel was impressive in India’s previous pink-ball clash against England in Ahmedabad.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka were forced to make two changes in their side for the second and final Test of the series. Pathum Nissanka, the half-centurion of the first innings, has been ruled out due to back injury. Kusal Mendis has taken his place in the team. Also, pacer Lahiru Kumara and Dushmantha Chameera have missed out the pink-ball test as they had suspected hamstring injury and an ankle niggle respectively.23-year-old left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama replaces the injured pacer in the side.
It will be another chance for former Indian skipper Virat Kohli to score his much-awaited 71st Test century. Interestingly, Kohli’s last international century came in a pink-ball Test only. In November 2019, The 33-year-old scored a century against Bangladesh in the pink-ball Test.
It is also Suranga Lakmal's farewell Test. The veteran of 69 Tests has 170 wickets to his name at an average of 36.38 including four five-wicket hauls.
India will have a chance to improve their chances of reaching the World Test Championship 2021-23 final with a win against struggling Sri Lankan side led by Dimuth Karunaratne. This is the second-last Test for India in the current cycle. The last Test of the cycle will be played later this year against England. The fifth and last Test of the series was postponed due to Covid-19 outbreak in Indian camp. India are currently leading the five-Test series by 2-1.
IND XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami
SL XI: Lahiru Thirimanne, Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Embuldeniya, Vishwa Fernando, Praveen Jayawickrama
