India vs Sri Lanka: Virat Kohli and Co well-placed to end successful home Test season with win against depleted visitors

After the minor scare in Kolkata, where gritty knocks from Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Virat Kohli led India’s fight against Sri Lanka in a drawn game, the hosts bounced back admirably at Nagpur to gain the series lead. And now India cannot find themselves in a more favourable position to end the Test leg of what has been a successful home season so far on a positive note when they take on the visiting Sri Lankans in the final Test at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla starting on Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_4237061” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The India team bounced back against Sri Lanka in Nagpur after being taken by surprise at Kolkata. AP[/caption] The Indians were outright dominant in every department in the second Test, registering their joint-biggest win over the hapless Lankans. Not only did the old warhorses Kohli and Pujara carry their form over from Kolkata, the Test saw comeback men Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma shine in their respective departments to highlight India’s bench strength. Getting shot out for 205 and 166 after conceding a 600-plus score would have caused a mental dent to Sri Lanka, one that would take a while for most teams to come out of. Add the loss of a key player to injury, and the prospect of suffering their eighth loss this year seems well on the cards. For the visitors, the absence of veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who flew back home after complaining of back problems, comes as a massive blow ahead of the final Test. Herath, who is the second-highest Test wicket-taker of all time for the Lankans behind Muttiah Muralitharan, would have been a reliable source of wickets on a traditionally batting-friendly Delhi wicket that is known to assist spinners from Day 3 onwards. His 67 at the Eden Gardens only added to his value as a handy bat down the order. One does not quite know if Jeffrey Vandersay, who has a total international experience of 11 ODIs and seven T20Is, would be able to fill the void in the longest format. Reports are also coming in of vice-captain Lahiru Thirimanne being axed among the changes in the Sri Lankan combination for the Delhi Test. Thirimanne, who himself made a comeback into the Sri Lankan Test side during the series against Pakistan in the UAE, has had an average run so far. While he made a refreshing fifty in Kolkata, he was dismissed off rash shots at Nagpur  — not very different from another senior batsman Angelo Mathews , who will have a lot more to do in the middle order in Thirimanne’s absence. As far as the Indians are concerned, there aren’t too many changes expected, given the fact that they wouldn’t want to meddle with their chances of sealing the series 2-0 by experimenting with their winning combination. The bowling department looks as fiery as ever, with the spinners now joining the pacers among the wickets. And Ishant’s return among the wickets only adds to the selectors’ headache when it comes to picking the pace unit, though it bodes well for the ‘Men in Blue’ ahead of the South Africa tour. The fielding too has been a factor behind their ability to restrict singles and increase the pressure on batsmen to commit mistakes. There are a couple of individual concerns to be addressed in the Indian batting unit though. Ajinkya Rahane has hit a rough patch in recent times, while opener KL Rahul, who was preferred over Murali Vijay for the first Test, has registered two single-digit scores in the last three innings. Both batsmen need to iron their wrinkles out in this game, and given their importance in India’s overseas tours, must repay the faith that the selectors have invested in them with runs. Scoring big runs at Delhi would be one way for them to go about business in this regard. What the Delhiites will really be looking forward to this weekend would be to see their local hero Kohli dazzle with the bat. Given the kind of form that he is in at the moment, expect another gem of an innings from the ‘Dilliwallah’. And a dominant win for the Indians, unless the struggling visitors experience a sudden surge of luck. Squads: India: Virat Kohli (c), KL Rahul, M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Vijay Shankar. Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Lahiru Thirimanne, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dilruwan Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Gamage, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Dasun Shanaka and Roshen Silva, Jeffrey Vandersay. Venue: Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi. Time: 09:30 IST.