5 ways in which India can overcome the Sri Lanka challenge

5 ways in which India can overcome the Sri Lanka challenge: After a full-fledged year of ferocious battles in Test matches abroad, the Indian team is all set to play in the favorable sub-continent conditions for a prolonged period of time in the upcoming years. It also marks the beginning of the Kohli era. Virat Kohli is a guy who doesn’t take any shit in his stride and believes in giving it back to the opponents in his very own fiery style. The Sri Lankan series will present different set of challenges for the Delhi lad. It will be a test of his character as he would like to create history by defeating the Sri Lankan team in their backyard after 22 long years.

Last time Indian team managed to draw the Test series here in 2010. It will also be curtains on the illustrious career of modern-age legend Kumar Sangakkara.

On the eve of the 3-match Test series in Sri Lanka, we list 5 ways in which India can overcome the Sri Lanka challenge:

1. Effective bowling:

It is an undisputed point that bowling has been India’s paramount weakness for years. To overcome this prevalent weakness, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli and the team management has decided in favor of 5 specialist bowlers which will boost India’s bowling. Now, the onus will be on the bowlers like Ishant Sharma, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav and Harbhajan Singh to deliver the goods. The weather conditions of the island nation will help the seamers to extract something out of the deck. After the first two days, the pitches are likely to help the spinners as well. Ashwin will be central to Indian hopes in the series.

2. Virat Kohli’s captaincy:

The Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli believes in aggressive brand of cricket. Kohli is the face of never say die attitude. His strategy of employing 5 specialist bowlers in the side is a reflection of his willingness to root out the prime causes of India’s dismal losses. The inability of Indian bowlers to take 20 wickets is no secret. Virat always leads from the front and as a skipper if he can succeed in breeding the players with self-belief that they can win then nothing can come in India’s path to victory in the series.

Also Read – 6 ways in which Sri Lanka can conquer the Indian challenge

3. Inexperienced Sri Lankan batting:

Apart from Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews almost every other player is establishing himself in the side. Although, the Lankan openers have promised a lot but the middle-order is unproven. The likes of Upul Tharanga, Jehan Mubarak and Lahiru Thirimmane are yet to find their feet in Test cricket. There are many southpaws in Lankan batting line-up. And we all know that off-spinners trouble the left-handed batters as they spin the red cherry away from them. So the likes of Ashwin and Harbhajan will come more than handy.

4. Experience of overseas defeats:

In the last few years, India has toured England, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. Though, they have faced defeats in all the tours. But, the likes of Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, and Virat Kohli have scored and bailed out India from many crisis situations. While the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha have also gone through tremendous level of exposure. All the ups and downs have been critical to their growth and it has been a great learning curve for all of them. It is evident in each passing performance of the players.

5. Ajinkya Rahane’s purple patch:

If plundering overseas runs is a testimony of a player’s top-notch skills, grit and commitment, then this man has proved his mettle over time and again. Since 2014, he has amassed 958 runs at an average of almost 60 which includes centuries at Lord’s, Melbourne and Wellington. Rahane has developed himself as a player in leaps and bounds. His sound technique against spinners will bear a momentous effect on the outcome of the Test series. If he can carry his merry run, then he has the ability to carry the whole batting-line up around him.