Press Trust of India
Colombo, August 5: Looking for a proper tune-up before the three-match Test series against Sri Lanka gets underway, India would be hoping that rain stays away from their one and only three-day practice game beginning at the R Premadasa Stadium here Thursday.
India’s first practice session was moved indoors at the National Cricket Club after rain played spoilsport Tuesday and with thundershowers predicted in the upcoming days, Virat Kohli’s men will only pray for some play against Sri Lanka Board President’s XI.
It is Kohli’s first full-fledged assignment as Test captain after the rain-affected one-off Test in Bangladesh and the star bastman is keen to make to it count for himself and the team. The 26-year-old said that he knew it would be a very competitive series as both India and Sri Lanka are currently in the rebuilding stages.
“It is going to be a very competitive series from the aspect that both sides have young players who have performed well,” Kohli stated.
Former skipper Kumar Sangakkara will retire after the second Test at Colombo and Kohli said it would present a big challenge to Sri Lanka. India has not won a Test series in Sri Lanka since 1993 but Kohli said he would not be paying any attention to this fact and will look to play good cricket.
“When I came here to play the first ODI series of my career, I was told that India had not won a ODI series for 25 years. I felt no pressure then. We are here to play good cricket, every series for us is a part of our plan we want to put in for the next five to six years,” the Indian skipper pointed out.
Sri Lanka go into the series after a dismal home series against Pakistan, where they lost in all three formats of the game.
