Sri Lanka vs India - Two key battles that could decide the Galle Test

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  • Old foes will battle it out again as the three matches Test series between Sri Lanka and India gets underway with the series opener on Thursday. The picturesque fort town of Galle will be the setting of the battle between Virat Kohli’s and Rangana Herath’s men.

    With the Indians on a roll in the Test arena in recent times leading up to their top dogs status in the format, the contest appears to be a huge mismatch against the relatively inexperienced Sri Lankans who are still struggling to replace the likes of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene since their permanent Test hiatus.

    While this is the first Test for the Indians since their hard fought series win against Australia earlier this year, Sri Lanka are coming off the back of a narrow victory against minnows Zimbabwe.

    Kohli’s men will rightly be the favourites against Herath’s transitional squad still struggling to find its bearings. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka will look to make the most of the home advantage to turn the screws on a highly experienced and well settled Indian team.

    We look at the two key battles which could impact the direction the series takes from Galle.

    Herath’s spin vs Indian batting armada

    How the Indians face up to the left-arm orthodox spin of Herath will decide much of the outcome of the series.  Leading the side in the absence of Dinesh Chandimal, the 40-year-old will also spearhead the spin department.

    The veteran started off the 2015 series between the countries in fine form, running through the Indian batting line with seven wickets in the second innings to hand Sri Lanka a special come-from-behind 63-run victory in the opening Test at Galle.

    The Kohli led Indian team managed to negate the threat of Herath in the following two Tests with the spinner picking up only a further eight wickets to finish with a series haul of 15 scalps.

    The leg spinner’s 27 wickets against India at an average of 41.62 pales in comparison to his overall Test record of 384 at an average of 27.72. In fact, his average against India is his worst against all Test-playing nations.

    All the pressure will be on Herath to do the bulk of the damage against the Indian line up.

    All the pressure will be on Herath to do the bulk of the damage against the Indian line up.

    If the Indians can manage to get on top of Herath again in the coming series, it will put a lot of pressure on the otherwise inexperienced Sri Lankan attack.

    The Sri Lankan skipper will face the burden of doing the bulk of the damage for his side against the likes of Kohli, Cheteswar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane.

    Sri Lanka’s young guns vs India’s twin spin threat

    For Sri Lanka, the absence regular captain Chandimal will be felt most heavily in the batting department. One of the more experienced members in the Test squad with 37 games to his name, his absence will put more emphasis on the younger faces in the squad.

    The likes of Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella will have to step up to the plate in the company of the more experienced Upul Tharanga and Angelo Matthews.

    The young pair of Mendis and Dickwella will need to step up big time against Ashwin, Jadeja and co

    The young pair of Mendis and Dickwella will need to step up big time against Ashwin and co

    The 22-year-old Mendis and the 24-year-old Dickwella have both shown promise since their Test baptisms but have been plagued by inconsistencies which are to be expected of a young player.

    With a high score of 194 runs in the Bangladesh Test and a sparkling 176 runs against Australia in the 2016 series, Mendis has shown enough to suggest that he can go on to fill the void left by Sangakkara and co.

    The Kandy born Dickwella has just played seven Tests so far in his young fledgling career but his three half-centuries along with his performance in the One Day International (ODI) side have indicated that there is much more to come from the wicketkeeper batsmen.

    The youngsters will have to step up against the World No1 and No3 Test bowlers in Jadeja and Ashwin respectively and if they can come out unscathed through this baptism by fire, it will go a long way in consolidating Sri Lanka’s chances against the mighty Indians.

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