Match Preview: India vs Sri Lanka, 2nd Test

Match summary

Sri Lanka's tour of India 2017, Second Test

Venue: Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur

Start time - 9:30 am

It was a case of so near, yet so far for Team India, who, on the last day of the Eden Gardens Test, almost got the better of the Lankan batting, before bad light cut short Kohli & Co’s pursuit for an exciting win. The psychological advantage firmly rests with the hosts, as they move to the ‘Orange City’ in a bid to return to winning ways.

Before the grueling tour of South Africa, the Indians have the ongoing series as a testing ground to plug all holes and make their juggernaut foolproof. With the absence of a few players for the second, they have the opportunity of trying out different combinations to get the right mix before they travel to the rainbow nation in December end.

Pitch and weather conditions

There is grass on the Nagpur grounds, although not as much as the greenery that was on display at the Eden Gardens in the first game. Pacers will get early assistance from the surface, while it’ll help out spinners as the game progresses.

With the winters fast approaching, the temperatures at Nagpur will hover between 20 and 30 throughout the day, with no chance of rain for the next five days.

Team news

With Shikhar Dhawan requesting leave from the team for personal reasons, Murali ‘Monk’ Vijay is set to make a return to the Indian side, for the first time since the Dharamsala Test against Australia in March. The 33-year-old, having recovered from his shoulder injury, would be itching to get some runs before the South Africa tour. Given that he has proven his worth outside the subcontinent on several occasions, he is one of India's main men when the team sets foot in Africa.

In the bowling department, the newly-married Bhuvneshwar Kumar makes way, which might result in the inclusion of veteran pacer Ishant Sharma or the unheralded Vijay Shankar. If the team sees the need to bolster the batting, Rohit Sharma could also be drafted in the middle-order.

Squads

India: Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh, Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Rohit Sharma and Vijay Shankar.

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (C), Angelo Mathews, Dimuth Karunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella (WK), Viswa Fernando, Lahiru Gamage, Dhananjaya de Silva, Suranga Lakmal, Dasun Shanaka, Lakshan Sandakan, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dilruwan Perera and Roshen Silva.

Where to follow the game:

The game will be telecast on Star Sports 1,3 and Star Sports 1,3 HD. Live streaming of the game is available on Hotstar.

The live ball-by-ball text commentary of the game can be followed on Sportskeeda here.