India vs Sri Lanka 2017: 5 reasons why India should have experimented

Indian cricket, which has been motoring along, has been on a winning rampage over the past 15 months.

After having dominated in white ball cricket, Virat Kohli and co. now await Dinesh Chandimal's Sri Lanka for a full-fledged series, which will commence on November 16 at the Eden Gardens.

The Indian selectors have stuck with the same side which annihilated the Lankans in their home ground, a tactic which could have been avoided for this series as new players could have been roped in instead.

Here in this slider, we take a look at 5 reasons why India should have experimented in the upcoming series.

#5 Long away season awaits the team

Although the Indian team have been hugely successful over the past two years across all the three formats, one believes that the real test for this bunch lies overseas.

Their first big assignment is against South Africa which begins next January and hence the selectors could have tried out a number of options before the long hiatus commences.

With a bigger pool of players at their disposal, the Indian team would have been in good shape come the overseas stints which have been an Achilles for many Indian teams of the past.

#4 Rewarding performers in the Ranji setup

Performers need to be acknowledged

With five rounds of the ongoing Ranji season done and dusted, several players have impressed with their consistency. Many of these have been in form over the course of the last few seasons and hence this could have been an opportune moment for them to be given a taste of International cricket in familiar conditions.

Also, Sri Lanka are not high on confidence and this could have allowed these players an opportunity to express themselves at the highest stage without any inhibition.

It would also have been an endorsement of the Ranji Trophy and the value it holds in Indian cricket at the moment.

#3 Building bench strength

Plenty of options available

This in many ways is an extrapolation of the previous point. By testing out new blood and throwing them into the demands of International cricket, Indian cricket would have only benefitted.

Considering the huge plethora of talent available in the country and owing to the cut-throat competition for spots in the Indian playing XI, this series could have been ideal to test the mettle of these young performers.

Also, success attained by them can only bolster the health of Indian cricket as there will be like-for-like swaps if any first-choice players are injured or if form becomes a concern.

#2 Much-needed rest for the senior players

Senior players need time to rest

Owing to the taxing schedule of International cricket, many Indian players play incessantly without any breaks, and this can only ignite the chances of them going off the boil before any crunch series.

A pivotal stage in Indian cricket is coming up next year with all the overseas tours lined up, and the selectors could have trodden carefully by resting many of the senior players and keeping them fresh for sterner tests in alien conditions.

Also, this rest would have allowed these players to iron out flaws which might have crept into their game, something which would only help them next season.

#1 Acclimatising to South African conditions

South Africa will not be easy

After having played largely in the sub-continent for the last 15 months, Indian cricketers need to now acclimatize to foreign conditions and both the selectors and the BCCI should realise that these players need maximum opportunities to get used to the fast and pacy conditions of South Africa to compete better when the Test starts.

Hence, many of these first-choice players could have flown across to the Rainbow nation and started their quest to conquer the frontier instead of wilting away in the series against Sri Lanka in home conditions.

Rest followed by astute practice would have been ideal for India to succeed not only in South Africa but other nations too.