Bengaluru, March 10: India and Sri Lanka teams have reached Bengaluru ahead of the second Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, starting March 12. The match is a day-night pink-ball Test. Before leaving for Bengaluru on Wednesday evening, team India had a full-fledged practice with the pink SG ball in Mohali.
India had defeated Sri Lanka in the first Test within three days, winning by an innings and 222 runs. Skipper Rohit Sharma will be eyeing for whitewash and press for World No.1 Test team rankings. If India win the match and Pakistan beat Australia in their respective second Test, India will retrieve the top spot in the ICC team rankings. Ahead of the pink ball Test, Rohit had a shot in the arm with Axar Patel making a comeback but has a hard task cut out whether to play Axar or Mohammad Siraj, keeping in view the history of the day-night cricket in India.
In the two pink ball Tests in India, the hosts have won the games on the backs of pacers. Against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens, they bagged 19 wickets, and against England in Ahmedabad they claimed 28 wickets out of 30. Although the Bengaluru pitch historically favours batters in the first three days and spinners in next two days, the pink SG ball could script a different story. UNI
